Phoenix Journal - Book I: Burning Cold
by TJMike
Summary: Hello there. If you have some time to spare, let me tell you a story. A story about the Great Peace and how it came to be, thanks to the efforts of both Rias Gremory's peerage and Tsukune Aono's group. It wasn't easy to bring them together but in the end it all worked out, at least for me anyways. Pairings, OCs and lots of intrigue. I know, not the best summary in the world :)
1. Prologue

**Hi there, this is TJMike at your service. This is my first fanfic so any constructive reviews and comments are welcome.**

 **Now for the sacred words "I do not own anything from Rosario+Vampire nor Highschool DxD" and enjoy the first chapter of my first series.**

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 **-Prologue-**

 _Hello dear reader_

 _If you have found this journal then I wish you all the luck my friend. Because when you hold and read this book you're going through all my story, my life... well, basically me._

 _I wanted to leave a record because let's face it, all the interesting events that have occurred in life are the ones that no one have heard of. And trust me, there is a lot of it._

 _Who am I?_

 _Well, let's just say I'm someone with a very LONG life (with emphasis on the "long" part). However it has been a very interesting one too, even if I say so myself. I have meet people so unique in their own way; I have made friends that are like brothers and sisters to me and even if I hate to admit it I have made enemies with the wrong people, even for my kind._

 _Ah, my kind. In case you're wondering no, I'm not human. In fact, I am the last phoenix in this world. I have lived for 617 years. So now you understand the "long" part, uh. Sadly, we are no immortals. I can and will die one day, even with my ability to self-resurrect using my power over ashes if I have the energy to do so. As they say: when it's your turn to leave this world, it's your turn._

 _Now, contrary to the popular belief, we phoenix never had any control over fire. What really happens is that we can manipulate the ashes in the environment near us, then we are able to overheat them to the point of incineration. That's what creates the "fire" effect. Kinda useful if you think about it._

 _But what is my story? Glad you asked._

 _Well, I witnessed many events in the human history, like the New World discovery, both World Wars and the most amazing invention of all times: burgers!... and many wars and technologies developed in between._

 _But even better than all that, I had the honor of witnessing the biggest moment that this world has ever seen. "The Great Peace", as it is commonly known, is the current age in which we live now. The peace between all of us and the humanity. After many battles and inner struggles among the factions and the revelation of the supernatural to the human world, we finally achieved peace._

 _It was a team work between a certain human boy turned to vampire named Tsukune Aono and his monster friends. I have a very special connection with them because I met the parents of a few of them back in the day. They asked me to watch over their kids when they ingressed at Yokai Academy... and I wasn't doing anything at that time so I kinda re-enrolled myself in that school. I have to say, I didn't expect much from a human like Tsukune but he proved to himself and the rest of the world that it doesn't matter what your kind is, but that all that it takes is the will to act when your loved ones are in danger._

 _The peace was the result of the union of Tsukune's group and another special group. Lady Rias of the Gremory House and her peerage had a major role in the truce among the so called Three Powers; the devils, the angels and the fallen. In general terms, the ORC (Occult Research Club) helped me to understand the value of friendship and loyalty._

 _All of this couldn''t been possible without the help of the ones I work for. Back then I was working with... let's just say, a very powerful group that wanted every thing going accord with their plan. In the end all worked up, with a minor changes because of me but hey, nobody is perfect right?_

 _But perhaps I'm overloading you with all this information. All you have to know is that writen in this "little" journal are the most interesting moments of my life, but don't worry I'm not writing boring stuff like you know, human history. Mostly you are going through how this peace came to be._

 _Don't worry though, I wrote this journals assuming that a human found them, and so I detailed in every chapter a little bit about the specifics and customs of the monster kind depicted in them. You can thank me when you get there. If you are human, I can only hope you're not one of those elitists jerks who think they are better than us just for the fact that we are different. I really hope you don't make that mistake. Because that little detail thousands have died ... but I digress. If you are human ... try to understand us. We can do great things if we are united._

 _Now dear reader, if by any chance you happen to be a monster, angel, devil, fallen or something in between (If that's even possible), I want you to know that you're not alone out there in the human realm. May my journals be a guide for you in this brave new world, my friend. Have fun while reading this. See you on the other side._

 _..._

 _Oh right, silly me, I haven't told you my name._

 _My name is Velkan Santino, Last Phoenix. And this is my story._

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 **If you have any ideas regarding the course of the story please comment and review xD**


	2. The Night Before

**Hi there, this is TJMike at your service. This is my first fanfic and any constructive comments and ideas are more than welcome.**

 **Now the sacred words "I do not own any of the characters of Rosario+Vampire nor Highschool DxD" and enjoy today's chapter of the Book One of Journal of a Phoenix: Burning Cold.**

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 ** _-Entry 1: The Night Before-_**

 _"When I first saw Tsukune Aono he was still human. It was his second day at Yokai Academy, a school located in the monster realm that taught its students how to coexist with other beings, specially humans._

 _Why humans?_

 _Because although there are devils, angels and gods out there, the monster realm and the human realm, oddly enough, share the same planet. As strange as it may sound, these two worlds are more connected than most believe. The students who graduate from schools like Yokai Academy are free to either return to their homes in the monster realm or take their chances in the settlements made by humans in their world._

 _I actually lived on many human cities and it's not that bad once you get used to their presence, their customs, the way they live... ah well, recent graduates may take some time to make their lives in the human world. But then again, when you had centuries living among them like me time seems to be irrelevant. But I digress and I forgot what I was saying... or writing... ... ... oh yeah, Tsukune._

 _As I was telling, it was his second day at Yokai Academy and he already made some friends, including one of the girls I was looking for. The night before however..."_

 ** _-_ Yokai Academy, Night Time _-_**

"So, after all these years the school hasn't changed at all" Velkan said to himself from his seat on one of the buses coming from the human world.

" **I remember your face kid** " the bus driver said as he looked the boy from the rear view mirror with his glowing eyes. Velkan was the only passenger that night. He wore a red shirt, a dark brown trench coat unbuttoned with a silver chain sticking out of the left pocket, dark blue jeans and black tennis shoes.

"That my friend, is because I'd already been here, long time ago" Velkan replied while staring at his own reflex on the window. He had short dark red hair that was a bit messy, light brown eyes and a slight smile on his face, caused by the pleasant memories that this place brought to his mind. Then he looked back to the bus driver. "In fact, it was you who brought me that time, remember?" said Velkan

" **Ah, that's right** " was the answer from the driver. " **You're that guy who fell from the cliff right?** " the man asked with a grin as the bus slowly stopped. Velkan flinched by the question.

"Oh come on, I thought you'd forgotten about that by now. I mean that happened... 20? 25 years ago?" Velkan whined. "Besides, although that mermaid was a beauty nobody told me that the cliff was so close to me" said Velkan as he got off the bus.

" **Well as I said to you back then, it was the first time someone fell from the cliff after trying ask a girl for her number** " the bus driver said with a slight chuckle, as Velkan did.

"It's good to see your humor hasn't changed either" Velkan said. "Well then, it was nice to see you again Nurari" the phoenix said offering a hand to the former king of the monsters.

" **The pleasure was mine Velkan but I must ask, why did you came back after all these years?** " Nurari asked while shaking hands with the phoenix. Velkan closed his eyes for a moment and then opened, with a determined expression.

"Because I have a promise to fulfill"

With that, Velkan began to move away from the bus stop to Yokai Academy's facilities. He already knew the way so it did not take long to get to the school grounds. He also knew that the guards wouldn't let him pass until next morning so he decided to go to the best refuge he could remember at this place. Then he spread his two orange feathered wings that had shades of gold and took flight to the rooftop of the nearest building, wich happened to be the girls dorm. As he climbed, for one moment he was able to see one of the girls that he came looking for by her window. It looked like the blue haired girl was sitting on her bed, but couldn't figure out what she was doing. "If she is here it means the others are here too" he said to himself with a smirk on his face. He reached the roof, landed on and retracted his wings.

"Now if I remember correctly, there should be a maintenance room up here" Velkan muttered as he looked from side to side to find the door of his shelter for the night. "There it is" the phoenix said with a relief expression. But when he tried open it he discovered it was locked up. "Well, I guess that it wouldn't be so simple" Velkan sighed. Then he extended his hand to his side and a small set of ashes began to accumulate between his fingers. He focused and the ash started to burn. His hand then touched the door lock and it turned bright red quickly. The heat was enough to melt the locking mechanism and the door ended up open.

The inside of the room was mostly clean, leaving behind the fact that the rats and a bat were also seeking refuge in there, it was a nice one-night shelter.

"Let's face it Velkan, you've slept in worse places" he said with a defeat tone. Then he found a corner and cuddled in there. Before sleep he pulled the chain of his pocket and look at the silver watch that was attached to. He checked the time on it, put it back and closed his eyes.

'Tomorrow will be a long day' he thought. And with that he fall asleep.

 **-Dorm Building, Girls Section-**

Kurumu thought she saw something out there from her window, but then returned to the whirlwind of ideas in her mind. She heard that a big fight took place that day by the gateway to the human world and that involved that Saizo guy and three other students. She also heard that among those students was Moka Akashiya.

Although she didn't saw the fight she was reluctant to believe that Moka fought that guy, she though the other two boys did all the job. She was still thinking how to beat the pink haired girl that keep messing with her big plans.

"That bitch!" she said with traces of anger in her voice.

' _How I'm supposed to find my Destined One if she keeps stealing all the boys attention?_ ' she thought with frustration. And out of nowhere, an idea crossed her mind. It seemed the only answer she could figure out to remove her from the way. Kurumu's face turned from despair to determination.

"If she won't stay out of it... the I'll make her"

 **-Dorm Building, Girls Section... in other Room-**

In another room Moka was already in bed but for some reason she couldn't sleep. She was exhausted but all the emotions she had felt on the day didn't let her sleep.

' _I'm glad that this day is over_ ' she whined. ' _I can't believe I already made two friends_ ' Moka said. She began to remember her time in human schools, all the ones that were mean to her just because she was different, all the pain and loneliness that she felt back then. And out of nowhere, two boys came to her mind.

' _The American boy was a bit sarcastic all day, but it seems Joseph is ok to be friends with. And Tsukune..._ ' she though while a slight smile on her face was formed.

She was indeed thinking about that boy and she hoped to be his friend as long as she stay in this school. After all, she crashed her bike against him in the main road to the school and even let her drink blood of his neck. Joseph just keep making jokes about that but he was with Moka and Tsukune trying to fight Saizo when the orc had picked on them and that fact make her trust in him too.

' _I should try to be nice to them tomorrow, after all they help make my transfer to this school much easier_ ' she though.

She was curious about their future but between thinking in that and Tsukune she quickly fell asleep, decided to get to know better her new and only friends in this strange place.

 **-Dorm Building, Boys Section-**

Joseph and Tsukune walked back to the dorms after escorting Moka to the girls building.

"Are you sure you ok?" Joseph asked. He was about the same height of Tsukune, with dark brown eyes and short messy blond hair. He was wearing a pale green shirt, a dark green unzipped denim vest, black jeans and black tennis shoes.

"Although it was a bit fun to watch, that guy beat the crap out of you" Joseph said with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you for help us with that guy by the way" Tsukune said while grabbing the back of his head. His back still hurt him and he was having a light headache for the day the three students had, mostly because of the shock of being in a school filled with monster. But deep down, he was happy for the luck of meeting the most beautiful girl he ever saw.

"You're welcome. You know, you're not bad company for a human" Joseph said getting Tsukune out of his trance. The blond hadn't very pleasant memories with humans so he was cautious, but didn't wanted to spoil his first day in school. Tsukune looked at him with confusion.

"I mean you are easy be friends with and you're not much of the fighter type right?" Joseph joked with a smile. He didn't trusted that much in Tsukune but at leats he neither saw any threats from him just yet.

"Well it is my first day here and you were with me in that bus" Tsukune said weakly. Despite the fact that Joseph was a monster and he didn't revealed his true nature yet, the blonde was one of the two people in this scary place that knew he was human. He was relieved that Joseph and Moka agreed to not tell anybody about his "nature". That and the fact that one of the big rules of the school was to "never reveal your kind nor species to anyone, even your friends" as the enthusiastic teacher Nekonome said in the beiggining of her class, it make the perfect cover for him.

The two boys reached their rooms that were next to each other. Joseph walked to his door and opened but then looked to Tsukune.

"See you tomorrow man. And watch out for the blood sucking bats uh?" the blond said with a grin before entering his room and close the door. Tsukune just stared in his direction smiling weakly.

"Yeah, good night" Tsukune said. Then he looked with wide eyes where Joseph was a few seconds ago.

"Wait, what?!"

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 **And that's it for today. Please leave your thoughts and ideas and see you all the next time.**


	3. The Succubus

**Hi there me amigos, I hope you enjoy this chapter of Burning Cold because it took me a little more time than I expected. As always, any comments or ideas you have are welcome. Enjoy xD.**

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 _ **-Entry 2: The Succubus-**_

 _"The succubi are interesting beings. Unlike their male counterparts, the incubi, who base their existence on sexuality and lust, they base their lives on love and desire. The reason on why I find them interesting it's because a concept they call "The Destined One" and it refers to their mate who has been chosen by Destiny to each succubus. This is a double-edged sword because once a succubus finds her Destined One she has fulfilled the purpose of her life and as long as her mate is with her she will be happy for the rest of her life. And that's a good thing right? I mean, who wouldn't want to be happy?. The problem lies in the time until she finds it, because in that period of time she'll do anything to have her Destined One. And believe me when I say "anything"._

 _Unfortunately, the first day I came to Yokai Academy one of the girls I came looking for was going through that period of time. At first that didn't seem to be a problem and I decided to let it pass. Big mistake. Well, lesson learned; if there is a succubus near you in this condition, the first thing you need to deal with is with her. I didn't do it, so the headmaster used on his favor certain situation that happened during the day because of my carelessness and now he has me working for him._

 _Lucky for me, the work that he asked me to do is the same thing that my "bosses" told me to do. It's extremely rare that while working for two parties one has to do the same action. Truth, the context is different but I guess that for the time being I'll work for both Mikogami and... them._

 _Soon I'll have to check how it goes the other part of the big plan_ _."_

- **Rooftop, Yokai Academy** -

The sunlight began to fill the maintenance room where Velkan spend the night. The phoenix stretched and looked at his pocket watch with disdain.

' _I hate this part of the day_ ' he whined. Velkan never liked to disrupt his sleep in the morning, he found annoying that the best dreams reached him just before dawn and rarely finished them. But he knew he had things to do and life began early at Yokai Academy. He kept the watch and the silver chain was hanging again from his trench coat. With some effort he got up and left the room.

' _M_ _m.. no sense in risking anyone seeing me_ ' he thought. This time he decided that using the stairs to go down wouldn't attract too much attention. After all, he wasn't supposed to be in the rooftop to begin with.

' _I'd better go and see the headmaster. I just hope that he remember our friendship and let me stay for a while_ ' he thought. And with that he began to walk the hallways of his old school. As he approached the entrance to the main building and remembering his years in the place, Velkan could see a pink haired student with a blond boy running after a boy with dark brown hair.

"Oh that's good! Moka is already here. I assume that those two are with her, fine, they'll protect her. Now, where will be the succubus I saw last night?" Velkan asked. On one hand, he was happy to know that both Moka and Kurumu were at school, that meant he could watch two of his four reasons to return to Yokai Academy although he would worry about the rest later. On the other hand, if Kurumu turned out to be like her mother...

"Ok, don't get ahead yourself Velkan. I'm sure they can be a few hours without me, I'll just talk to the headmaster and I'll meet with them later. I mean, what can possibly go wrong?" he stated confidently.

- **School Cafeteria** -

"This really is a strange place" Joseph said to his new friends as they looked around curiously. The blond had received his education in human schools back in North America, so he didn't know what to expect just as Tsukune.

"It's not that bad, I believe this will be a good place. Don't you think so Tsukune?" Moka asked innocently. Tsukune just laughed weakly as he paused to catch his breath, tired because the persecution of a while ago.

"Of course, it still strange to see monsters in the morning but I hope that nobody finds out of my... "condition" he said that last part as a whisper.

"By the way, Is every morning going to be like that?" Tsukune asked worriedly. Moka blushed slightly and Joseph chuckled.

"What's the matter man? A little exercise never hurt anyone" was the blonde's answer.

"I'm sorry Tsukune, it's just that your blood is delicious. And besides you are... the first human from I drink directly" she said that last part quickly and with a blush, much to Joseph's fun.

' _I just feel like you're with me only for my blood_ ' the human boy thought. He believed it was too good to be truth that a girl as beautiful as Moka was with him only to be friends. It was more like she was with him because of his blood, because he was basically her food. That was the main reason of the little run early that morning. The three students were heading to their homeroom after the boys finish their breakfast at the school cafeteria. However, Joseph had other plans.

"Hey, do you mind if I catch up with you later?" he said with a hand on his stomach. Tsukune and Moka turned to see him with curious faces.

"Are you alright Joseph?" Tsukune asked.

"Yeah, it's just a stomachache. I'll be at the infirmary, but I'll meet with you at the class" Joseph said as he walked towards the courtyard. The two students just looked at him with worry.

"I hope everything it's fine" Moka said.

- **Academy Grounds** -

But actually he wasn't sick, he just had retired a moment alone to think about his current situation. The blond decided that a small walk on the forest near the school would clear his mind a little bit.

' _Who would say? I just got here yesterday and I already made two friends, a pretty vampire girl... and a human boy_ ' Joseph thought. The idea of a human as a friend it was a bit strange because his species and the mankind didn't get along very well. In fact although a few humans were victims of Joseph's kind each year, a few hunters killed dozens of them in the same amount of time.

"He looks like a nice guy and all, but I won't let my guard down. I won't make the same mistake my sister did" he said to himself in a grief tone. He was still mourning his recently deceased sibling, who was murdered by a band of rogue human hunters a few years ago.

"Well, enough of that. I better get going or the class will begin without me" said the blond with his usual smirk of his face. As he walked in the main road back to the school buildings a sound that was heard in the distance reached Joseph's ears. His kind was known by their highly developed senses specially their vision and hearing, which they used for hunting purposes. But this sound was more like a scream or a cry.

"What was that?" he asked. Now he was curious and he decided to follow the sound.

"This better be good, I can't waste any more time if I want to make it to the class" Joseph said. As he approached to the source he could tell it was definitely a women, and it sounded like she needed help. The blonde hurried his pace and came to a clearing in the forest. When the source of the cries was in his sight he couldn't believe what he saw. A girl as beautiful as Moka with a cyan hair in a pony tail and violet eyes. She was wearing a yellow sweater and the school skirt, but the most striking aspect was her overdeveloped breasts. She seemed to have fallen and was struggling to get up.

"Umm... are you ok?" Joseph asked, who was having troubles to say anything. The girl look at him weakly and spoke.

"Yeah, just a little dizzy. Can you help me?" the blue haired girl asked.

"Sure" he said. The blond helped her to get up and soon she was leaning on him. Joseph was briefly with a blush.

"Would you want me to take you to the infirmary?" he asked. The girl looked him and smiled.

"Yes please, if you don't mind" she said.

"Of course not" Joseph said. 'It seems like I'll go to the infirmary after all' he thought much to his fun.

While walking Kurumu kept leaning on Joseph and from time to time her breast touched his chest, despite the best efforts of the blond. On the hallway before the nurse office the blue haired girl fell on purpose and Joseph helped to get up.

"Wow, easy girl. We're almost there" Joseph said.

"A true gentleman aren't you Joseph?" Kurumu said teasing him. He smiled at her weakly and then he noticed a little detail.

"How do you know my name?" he asked with suspicion.

"Well err... w-we are in the same class" she answered. Knowing that she could be discovered any moment, she decided to rush her plan. She came closer to Joseph and smile at him.

"Say Joseph, will you be my friend?" she asked. An unusual shine appeared in her eyes and he smiled back at her.

"Of course my dear" he said.

' _Umm... I'm pretty sure I didn't say the "my dear" part. Is this some kind of magic?_ '. The mind of Joseph was confused. He hadn't control over his body of his voice. With no other choice he began to follow Kurumu, who guided him away from the nurse office and back to the school.

- **Headmaster's Office** -

The natural light illuminated the headmaster's office in a way that there were only a few shady spots on the place. The room was large enough to accommodate the desk from where the most important issues were dealt with, some shelves where the headmaster kept his personal collection of ancient text and a couple of chairs for those who had stuff to discuss with the leader of the school.

Among the latter was a red-haired boy in a dark gray trench coat sitting in front of the headmaster, discussing an issue that not came every day.

"Absolutely not Mr. Santino" the headmaster said firmly.

"Come on Mikogami sir, for the good old days" Velkan said almost as a pleading.

The headmaster had spent the last hours talking to the phoenix about the reasons why he should stay or not in the school. Actually, Mikogami had already decided some time ago that Velkan's help in watching over the group of students he was interested in would be useful, but he woldn't let that easy for the red-haired boy. The phoenix owed him a few favors in the past and this was the perfect occasion to cash them.

"Would you mind telling me the real reason you want to come back?" the headmaster asked. Velkan tried to calm down and gave his answer with a serious face.

"As I already told you, I just want to fulfill the promise I made to my friends long time ago. They asked me to watch over their kids while they are in this school, just as I watched over them in the past. Perhaps you've heard of them, tell me sir, the names of Aghea Kurono, Tsurara Shirayuki, Fujiko Tanaka, Tamanori Sendo and Issa Shuzen sounds familiar to you?" Velkan asked, confident on his words.

Those names did made an effect on the headmaster, as he recall all the times those students got in troubles and all the times a certain red-haired boy save them whenever he could. Of course that was a few decades ago, now Mr. Shuzen was made one of the so called "Dark Lords", Ms. Kurono was living in the human world now, Ms. Shirayuki found a husband in her village that was located also in the human realm, Mr. Tamanori and Ms. Fujiko where married now and they choose to live in the monster world. All of them had in common one thing now: they all had daugthers and all of them would join Yokai Academy this week.

' _Apparently Velkan has decided to appear early_ ' the headmaster thought.

"Ah, of course. So do you came from their part?" the headmaster asked carefully, knowing exactly how the boy was going to pay him the favors. Velkan sighed and talked.

"Let's say that I already know that at least two of them are here right now, the others will be here in the next days. All I ask is your permission to come and go from the school grounds at will to watch over them" the phoenix answered. A slight smirk was forms on the headmaster's face.

- **Main** **Hallway** -

"Where would Joseph go?" Moka asked. They were looking for his friend since a few hours without any luck.

"I don't know, he didn't came back to the class" Tsukune answered.

"I have a bad feeling about this" Moka said with concern in her voice. Tsukune tried to calm her.

"Me too. Hey, I think we shou..." he tried to say but he was suddenly interrupted by another voice.

"Moka Akashiya!" the female voice said. She was a blue-haired girl about the same size of Moka, wearing a yellow sweater and looking to them with an angry face.

"Who are you?" Moka asked, surprised for hearing her name spoken so loud.

"Hey, aren't you the girl that sits behind Joseph?" Tsukune asked. He believed recognize from their class but it proveed difficult because she used to choose sit in the back of the homeroom.

"Yeah it's me, Kurumu Kurono" she said with a grin on her face. "And I've decided to beat you Moka" Kurumu said as she pointed a finger at the vampire.

"What are you talking about?" Moka asked, still confused.

"Tsukune, darling. Aren't you tired that this little bitch use you as food?" Kurumu asked to the young boy, ignoring Moka for the moment.

"Hey you take that back!" Tsukune said to Kurumu, trying to defend his friend.

"I don's use my friend as food!" Moka said

"Are you sure?" a very familiar voice asked. A blonde boy wearing a pale green shirt and a dark green unzipped denim vest came out of the crowd, which at this point was already been formed, and placed next to the blue-haired girl.

"Joseph!" Moka yelled, surprised to see her friend next to Kurumu.

"Where have you been?" Tsukune asked.

"Me? Where have YOU been? I'm sure that Moka here was using you as a blood pack again" Joseph replied coldly.

' _Wow, wow. That was cold even for me. I'm not sure what's going on but whatever it is has something to do with this Kurumu girl_ ' Joseph thought in confusion. The spell Kurumu had put on him didn't allowed to control his actions. He still didn't know what this girl wanted to get from all this but he was starting to get angry.

"How can you say things like that to Moka?" Tsukune said. Joseph was his friend and he didn't know what was happening to him but he wasn't going to let anyone insult Moka.

"I though you were our friend" Moka said worried because she knew something wasn't right.

"Let's get this straight, I'm around you two only because I was taught that there is strength in numbers" the blond replied coldly "But I don't need you anymore, I already found my love, right Kurumu?" he said smiling at the girl next to him.

' _Hey t_ _hat's not truth! Well, not everything anyway.. Argh Kurumu! you'd better give me my body back_ ' Joseph thought. Kurumu just chuckled.

"See? Even your "friend" thinks that. Now we'll be leaving, shall we go then my love?" Kurumu asked seductively to the blond boy.

"Of course my dear" Joseph smiled back.

' _I need to figure out what kind of magic is this so I can break the spell or something._ ' he thought trying to not let the anger take the best of him.

"Joseph!" Both the vampire and the human tried to call for his friend in vain as he and the succubus left the hallways.

- **Outside of the Academy** -

Moka ran from the hallway leaving Tsukune behind, who was still confused about Joseph and all the things he said to the vampire. She needed a time alone to think straight. Was she really with Tsukune for his blood? Was Kurumu right?. Her short race had leaded to one of the outer walls of the Academy. As she recovered her breath her mind was trying to organize all the ideas and thoughts that came to her.

"It's true that his blood is delicious but.. is that the only reason why I'm with them?" she asked to herself. Suddenly the gem of her Rosario began to shine and she felt a voice in her head that began to spoke to her.

' ** _Think straight. Focus_** '

"Who is there?" Moka said looking around but seeing nobody near her.

 ** _'There is no time, that friend of yours is being controlled'_** the voice spoke again. This time Moka could find that the source of the voice was close, very close to her. Then she look down and noted the glow of her Rosario.

"Who are you?" she asked in surprise.

 ** _'I'm the inner you. I'm able to communicate with you through the Rosario. I'll explain everything later but now you must stop that succubus'_** the voice replied. Although the voice had said that it communicates through the Rosario it seemed that it came from within her. The shine of the gem in her necklace had disappeared by now.

"A succubus?" Moka wondered. She didn't know that much about them but what she did know was that they could charm men and made them slaves with a kiss. Then Moka was frightened.

"Oh no!" Moka cried. Just in that moment Tsukune found her and could hear her scream.

"Moka! Are you okay? What happened to you?" he asked worriedly. The vampire still had to think carefully about her friendship with Tsukune but now they had to focus on saving their friend.

"Tsukune! Come with me, we need to search for Joseph quickly" Moka replied.

"Joseph? But he said those things to you, why would you..." Tsukune said before Moka grabbed his hand and began to run towards the dorm building.

"You don't understand, we must save him. That girl is controlling him. She is a succubus!" she said.

"A what now?" the boy asked while running. He thought that he should stop by the library after this situation is over to know more about the types of monsters if he wanted to stay at Yokai Academy.

"I'll explain you later. We must hurry" Moka said.

- **Dorm Building, Girls Section** -

 _'Ok, this is getting out of hand. I mean, of course I'd like to be in this position under better circumstances but... No! Focus Joseph, you need to get any clue you can about this magic'_ he thought. Kurumu had guided to her room on the Dorm Building. He was leaning on her bed with the succubus standing at his side with a face full of satisfaction though he didn't know why.

"Yes! Did you see her face when you told her those things? She almost cried right there. Ha ha ha ha" she chuckled. All this time her idea to get Moka out of the way was to humiliate her and try to separate her from her friends. She expected to make her cry but when she saw the vampire run away she felt her plan was successful. Then she lay down on top of the blond and began sighing.

"You know, this is my first time doing this. I actually never tried before" she said. Needless to say, Joseph's mind was even more confused than before.

 _'Okay, what exactly are we talking about here?'_ his mind asked. Then he began to growl and she looked at him with confusion.

"Just relax Joseph. It all be over soon when I'll kiss you..." she said as she leaned further towards him.

"...and you'll be my slave" she said while her lips were an inch away from his. Hearing that last part he knew what he was dealing with and tried with all his might to get rid of the spell. By instinct he tried to get the succubus off him but he still didn't completely regain control over his body so the only thing left to do was hug her to have a chance to avoid her kiss, much to Joseph's own disillusion. Kurumu was shocked by the sudden movement.

"H-How did you..?" she said still in shock. He let her go and tried to reason with her.

"Listen I don't know what you are but I'll assume that you are some kind of monster that charms people, am I right?" he asked without getting a response from her.

"I don't know why you did this to me, or what you expected to get from me... but that of being slave of someone it's just not for me, got it?" he did his best to get away without hurt any feelings but it was in vain. Kurumu went from shock and surprise to anger and rage.

"After I humiliate myself for you. After I acted as a "damsel in distress" for you!" she said to him furiously. she got out of the bed, spread her hands at her sides and extended her nails about six inches long, razor claws.

"IS MOKA THAT MUCH BETTER THAN ME?!" she yelled while a pair of bat-like wings grew from her back.

"WAIT!" a voice from outside came. Suddenly the door of her room was open with a big blow. The only thing that Joseph could see was a pink blur that went towards Kurumu and pushed her out of the window.

"Joseph! Are you okay?" Tsukune asked. The blond was the one who was in shock now.

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay. What's with that entrance? No wait, a better question is... What's going on here?" Joseph asked in confusion.

"She is a succubus! If she had kissed you you'd be her slave forever!" Moka said frightened.

"WHAT?!" both Tsukune and Joseph asked surprised. But before Moka could explain more about that detail, the sound of a pair of wings flapping approached them very quickly.

"It's that the best you can do Moka? Now try that while I'm looking!" Kurumu said furiously. And with that the succubus held her tail around Joseph's right arm.

"Now I'll kill you three and I'll be able to charm all the boys in school" she said. Kurumu took flight outside of her room but Moka was able to grab Joseph's other arm and Tsukune could reach one of his legs. That way, the succubus ended up carrying three people towards the forest near school.

- **Headmaster's Office** -

The phoenix were known in the monster realm not only by their control over the fire and ashes, but for his habit of making pacts with other beings. These deals were unbreakable as the phoenix that did it continue living, which could be literally forever. One important thing for a pact to be valid was a handshake; In this way a small circular scar with an intricate pattern within was formed in both people, acting as a reminder of their obligations to fulfill the deal. And inside the headmaster's office a pact was about to be sealed right now.

"Just to be clear here sir. I stay here with the permission to get out or in at will, right?" the phoenix asked to establish the details of the deal. The headmaster he'd had enough fun and was ready to seal the pact with Velkan.

"Of course, as long as you keep an eye on all of them" the headmaster said while offering a hand to the redhead. Velkan was about to shake hands with him, sealing the pact that would make things easier saving him a lot of time. But before the handshake could be completed, the sound of a window shattering destroyed all possibility for the phoenix to get a deal quick and easy.

"What was that?" the headmaster asked with a serene face as he retreat his hand and walked to the window to see what happened.

' _Dammit, I was so close!_ ' Velkan thought. He got up and went to look out the window, trying to find the reason that cost him the deal.

 _'When I find out who caused this I... I..._ ' the phoenix thought furiously but stopped when both him and the headmaster saw a blue-haired succubus carrying three other students, including a girl with pink hair, and the two boys Velkan saw early that day.

"Crap!" was all Velkan could say. The headmaster looked at him with a smirk.

"Mr. Santino, I'll like to review the terms of our pact" he said as Velkan sighed.

"Oh yeah? And what would be the new terms?" the phoenix asked resigned.

"In light of recent events..." the headmaster said as he pointed to the window. "I would like you to handle this situation." then he sat back and as he offered his hand again much to Velkan's surprise he said "I'll give you permission to say and you get to come and go whenever you want."

At this point the phoenix's mind was trying to figure out what Mikogami wanted, because what he was saying was too good to be truth.

"However, when you're in academy grounds you'll behave as a student" the headmaster said.

"Ok, what exactly mean by that?" the redhead asked cautiously.

"I mean that you'll be joining a class, a club and if you stay here more that a day you'll have a room in the dorm section. All this while you watch over Ms. Akashiya and Ms. Kurono." he answered. The phoenix wasn't exactly eager to start again as a student but he had no options. Once again the phoenix sighed in defeat.

"And what about the other two? Do you know when they'll get here?" Velkan asked.

"I understand that Ms. Sendo will be come in two days and that Ms. Shirayuki is already here but isn't attending class that often" Mikogami said.

Velkan considered for a moment his current situation. He was running out of options and the fact that Kurumu was about to kill Moka and two other students didn't make things easy. In the end, he decided to make the pact with the headmaster of Yokai Academy and completed the handshake with him. A small set of ashes surrounded their hands and on their arms the ashes formed a small circle of an inch in diameter was formed. The circle was then marked as a burn on their skin.

"It's done. From now on, until both of us are satisfied by the pact, we'll be bound by my mark" Velkan said as a way to finish the deal.

"Until then, may our souls be absolved if this pact is rightfully honored" the headmaster said as an answer.

"And may our bodies be burned if this pact if wrongfully done" the phoenix said. This phrases were necessary to make a pact valid, it was some kind of ritual that anyone who wanted to make a deal with a phoenix had to do. After that, Velkan got up and walked to the window.

"Well, I guess I'll stop those two from killing each other. I'll see you around sir." the phoenix said wavering his hand as his wings came out from his back. The headmaster saw him jump and spread his wings and smiled.

 _'It's good to have you back Mr. Santino'_ he thought

- **Academy's Forest** -

Unfortunately for Kurumu, the combined weight of a vampire, a human and... whatever Joseph's species is was to much for the young succubus and she was forced to let the blonde's arm go or she risked to fall with them. The three of them landed on the forest's ground.

"Damn! My arm is killing me!" Joseph said. Kurumu's tail had hurt wounded his right arm and now he could only let out the most basic weapons of his kind, like his claws and his fangs.

"Tsukune!" Moka said. "Take my Rosario off! Now!" she said again. Tsukune looked at her in confusion.

"What? How's that going to help us right now?" the boy asked. Moka took his hand and put it of the Rosario.

"Just do it! I believe I can fight her but I need you to take my Rosario off to do it" Moka said. She wasn't sure of it herself but she thought that if the voice from the jewel came from within her, maybe if the Rosario was taken off her it will unleash the inner her.

"Well if you have any plan... I don't know, you think you could do it by today?!" Joseph said desperately as he saw the succubus coming towards them.

"How cute! Saying your goodbyes already?" Kurumu said from above them. She was really pissed off and since it was normal that each year a few students were killed by others it make things easy for her.

"Just get that thing off her will you?!" Joseph shout them. Tsukune nodded and tried to pull the Rosario but it was stocked.

"It's not coming off!" the human boy said. Suddenly the succubus swooped down at them and as she advanced towards them the trees near her were sliced off. The three of them were able to barely avoid the attack but in the chaos Joseph rolled down the hill they were and hit with a tree, being knocked out in the act.

"Oh no, Joseph!" Moka said. This girl had already hurt one of her friends and now was trying to kill Tsukune, all because she wanted to get all the boys from school.

"Aw, Is Joseph going already? What a pity. I didn't get a chance to kill him myself" Kurumu said from above them. And as she tried another pass, Moka stepped between the succubus and Tsukune.

 _'That's enough. Now I know it. I want to be with Tsukune for whom he is, not only because his blood!_ ' the vampire thought.

"I WON'T LET YOU HURT THEM ANYMORE!" Moka yelled. Tsukune was in shock. _'Is she willing to sacrifice herself for me? In that case... I must save Moka from this girl. I won't let her die for me_ ' he thought. And with his renewed willpower he grabbed Moka's Rosario and gently took it off her neck. Then a bright purple glow filled the area. The succubus was hit by the vampire's aura.

"What's going on?!" Kurumu said with something very akin to fear in her voice. When the bright light disappeared, there was a girl who looked a lot like Moka, with the exception of her silver hair and red eyes. Kurumu was now frightened.

 _'Is she really a vampire?_ ' the succubus thought.

" **You took your time to get the Rosario off** " Inner Moka said to Tsukune. The boy was surprised to say the least.

" **And you...** " Moka said to Kurumu. " **I believe it's time you leave this place at once** ". Hearing this Kurumu regained her angry face.

"I.. I can't lose. I CAN'T LOSE!" Kurumu said desperately. "We succubi are on crisis. It is the duty of every succubus to find our Destined One. If we don't we'll be extinct in a few generations from now. That's why I wanted to charm all the boys of the school, I'm sure that among all of them there is one that's worthy to be my Destined One!... But now you ruined all. And you'll pay for that!"

In the distance a figure was standing on the branch of a near tree, still unseen by anyone of the forest. _'So that's why she's attacking them'_ Velkan thought. He had landed a few moments ago but decided not to interfere right away. He found this fight very interesting but he also needed to know how strong they were.

" **Is that so?** " the vampire said. Back on the field, a slight smirk was formed on Moka's face. " **No sweetheart, it's you who need to learn some... humility** " she said while her eyes narrowed as she looked at the succubus.

In her rage, Kurumu flew towards Moka with the intention of slice her off with her claws. She knew she had little chances against a S-Class monster, but she had to try. Her kind depended on it.

But Moka had very good reflexes. She just dodged the strike and managed to grab Kurumu's tail. " **Too slow** " she said " **And now.. Know your place!** ". And with that Moka gave her a few swings around herself and then threw her away. The amount of strength Moka used was enough to send Kurumu to the tree line near them, where the succubus hit a tree hard with her back. Destiny wanted it to be the same tree from which certain phoenix watched all the action.

' _Ouch! That must have hurt. I've better intervene soon_ ' Velkan thought. Kurumu was clearly suffering and she was starting to faint from the pain. Moka slowly approached her.

" **You act all tough, but you're just a little girl**." Moka said. " **Maybe I should rip off your tail or break your wings jus to be sure you'll learn your lesson** ". Hearing that Kurumu's eyes widened.

"No... NO PLEASE!" the succubus pleaded, but the vampire didn't listened. During all this time Tsukune tried to figure out how the Rosario worked. It seemed to be easy to pull of when either he or Moka was truly desperate. And then there was that thing Kurumu said about her species going to extinction. He was lost in his thoughts until he heard Moka said something about tails being ripped off and break some wings and when he looked up, the vampire was walking towards Kurumu. Before he could convince Moka they should take Joseph to the infirmary another boy showed up and put himself in front of Moka, like he was trying to protect the succubus.

"I believe she'd had enough, don't you think?" the redhead asked. Moka was surprised that she didn't notice his presence until now.

" **And who you think you are?** " she asked cautiously. He smiled slightly.

"My name is not important right now. All you need to know is that I need her..." he said pointing Kurumu, who was as shocked as Moka by this new boy. "...alive" he finished. Moka wasn't sure what kind of monster this guy was but he was powerful. His aura was being contained but she could feel it was the most intense she could remember, even that her father's.

" **Just what are you?** " she asked, showing for the first time fear in her voice. Tsukune didn't knew how to react.

"Isn't against the rules to tell your kind to other students?" he said playfully. "I'm sorry but I must leave now. I trust that you all get along right?" he asked while smiling.

None of the presents knew what to say. After that the phoenix looked down at Joseph. "You better get him to the nurse office. See you later guys" he wavered as he walked towards the Academy main building. After he leave Kurumu ran away from the scene, Tsukune reattached the Rosario to Moka's neck, and after the vampire recovered a few minutes later they carried Joseph all the way to the infirmary.

- **The Next Day in the Morning, Dorms Entrance** -

"So that pretty gem talked... to you" Joseph asked without actually believe a thing. After he spend the night at the infirmary he was able to use his arm again, despite it hurt him a little from time to time. The three of them were getting ready for another day of school after their little incident for yesterday.

"I know is weird but the voice told me about Kurumu and what she tried to do to you" Moka answered.

"It was strange but when I get where Moka was she already knew about Kurumu being a succubus" Tsukune said while grabbing the back of his head.

"I don't know. I still don't buy that... but thank you guys. If you weren't there I'll be a slave to that girl" Joseph said. _'And now a human saved me. This IS a strange place after all'_

"Don't worry about it, that's what friends are right?" Tsukune said. He was glad his friend got recovered in such a short time but he was happier that Moka was herself again.

"Say Tsukune" Moka said with a blush on her face. "If the Rosario stops working... will you still be my friend?" she asked. Tsukune was surprised about the sudden question but then he smiled..

"Of course. To me you'll be always Moka" he said. And before Joseph could say anything else, the two of them were in some kind of loop saying each other's names.

"Oh Tsukune"

"Oh Moka"

"Oh Tsukune"

"Oh Moka"

"Good morning!" a cheerful but familiar voice greeted them from behind. The surprise came when they turned to see who it was.

"Kurumu!" They yelled at the same time. Indeed, it was the same girl they fought just the day before but something was different about her; she was smiling but her smile seemed to be authentic, as if she really was happy to see them again.

"What do you want?" Joseph asked still mad at her. Tsukune and Moka were still a bit nervous.

"Wh-Why are you here?" Tsukune asked. The succubus looked around as if she was searching for someone in particular.

"Umm... Where is your friend?" Kurumu asked. The trio was even more confused than before.

"What do you mean?" Joseph asked. Moka and Tsukune looked each other and the blond boy noticed this. "Do you know what this is about?" he asked.

"Well..." Tsukune began. "... There was a guy with a dark gray trench coat after you went down" the human said.

"Yes! He saved me from her yesterday" Kurumu said pointing at the vampire. "I even baked some cookies for him. I thought you know him" she said.

"We only know what you know about him" Moka said. Kurumu looked down sad, but then looked at them in regret.

"Listen, I know that I was mean to you and I want to make it up to you guys" she said. Then she opened the little lunch box she had.

"This won't do but the very least I can do is offer you this cookies" she said with a beautiful smile that would make any boy to fell in love with her. Well, almost every one. Tsukune was falling for Moka and Joseph was to pissed off with her to think about anything.

"Thank you Kurumu, but you can come and eat the cookies with us" Moka said. Kurumu was shocked. She'd tried to kill her and now Moka was being nice with her.

"She can?" Joseph asked. It will take some more than just cookies to for him to forgive her.

"Oh come on man. At least she is apologizing. Can't you give her a chance?" Tsukune asked. After some deliberation and the expectant looks he was receiving from the others he finally decided.

"Fine" he said without any other option.

And with that the four of them went to their first class. It was funny though that while the cookies were made for her savior, they ended up getting her three new friends. Velkan watched the scene from a near bench and smiled.

"Two down, two to go" he said to himself. _'I better get out of here before they see me'._

* * *

 **Now that was a very long episode. I hope you enjoyed reading it as I enjoyed writing it. Have a good day and see you next time.**


	4. A phoenix among devils

**Hello everyone and welcome to a new chapter in the Journal of Velkan Santino. I think I'll be updating this story every two weeks or so. That way you know when to expect a new chapter. And without more delaying here it is Chapter 3 (not counting the Prologue xD) of Burning Cold.**

* * *

 _If there's anything I learned during my time between humans is "do not mess with their religion, or you'll come out hurt". During my travels in the human world, I came across many people of faith, humans with a great capacity to embrace their beliefs. Some went to extremes to prove their faith and die for it ... or kill for it._

 _The truth is that until recently, I admit that I had lost my faith. Only instead of depositing it in one God or another, I had lost my faith in humanity. As mentioned in the preface this journal I have witnessed many things, sadly most of them are misfortunes. It is curious you know; three quarters of the stuff recorded in the history books are wars, epidemics and genocide. In that order. However, a particular event made me reconsider my position on mankind. Certain day I met a girl, a nun who would make me see the pure side of humanity. Whether it was the will of Destiny or Chance, she turned out to be a key element for me to approach the Gremory group and establish a friendship with them._

 _As for my bosses and my mission, well, I'll introduce the basics for you in the next pages. For now I will tell you how my first meeting with Rias's peerage went._

- **Yokai Academy Bus stop** -

After making sure that the group formed by Tsukune, Moka, Joseph and Kurumu was heading to their morning classes, Velkan could finally take a breath of relief and was hoping they would stay out of trouble while he was gone for a few days. There was still a lot to do and time was still flowing, so he decided to dedicate his attention to the other group that was on his sight. Now that he had the permission from the headmaster to leave the academy whenever he wanted, he went to the bus stop that leaded to the human world. Upon arriving he found that there was only a bus waiting, with the bus driver already inside.

"Of course. I forgot that you're one of the few who venture to pick up students in the human realm" Velkan said. Nurari just smiled at the comment.

"Are you leaving already?" the bus driver asked as he lit a cigar. The phoenix laughed slightly.

"Actually it's funny. I know where I want to go, but I have no idea where it is" he said. The bus driver chuckled as well due to the irony of the fact. Velkan continued. "Do you know where Kuoh Academy is?" he asked.

"Get in, I'll leave you there" the bus driver said as he started the bus.

"Thanks. I owe you one" the phoenix said.

"No. Not yet" Nurari said. Velkan smiled as he got into the vehicle.

The bus began to move towards the tunnel that connected both worlds and the multi-colored lights that adorned its interior illuminated the occupants' faces. Velkan looked at his watch and put it back when he realized the time. He had always been interested in the functioning of the portals that connected the different worlds and dimensions; it gave him the impression that the time passed slower within them although his watch told him otherwise. Finally, after a while the phoenix decided to break the silence.

"So tell me, Where are we going exactly? I know the academy is in the human world, but do not know in which city is" he asked. Nurari watched him in the rearview mirror with her bright eyes

"Does that matter? When you get off the bus you'll be there" the bus driver said. Velkan just nodded. ' _Always so mysterious aren't you?_ '

After a series of detours, the vehicle came out the other side of the tunnel. It was obvious that this was a human city, however it lacked any recognizable monument or mountain which disconcerted the phoenix. ' _Where the hell am I?_ '. Despite being an establishment built by humans it was not very big. ' _It must be a town or something_ ' thought Velkan.

After a few minutes they came to a park. Nurari stopped the bus in a nearby parking lot and turned to see Velkan, who was confused to say the least.

"Are we there yet? I thought we were going to the Kuoh Academy" the phoenix asked. Nurari just looked at him with his bright eyes.

"This is were you get off. I must take a detour to pick up a couple of new students attending Yokai. Besides this town it is not that big. I am sure that sooner or later you will find the place" he said. The phoenix smiled, stood from his place and said goodbye to the driver.

"Thanks. I guess you have things to do so don't worry about taking me back. I'll find the way to Yokai Academy" Velkan said. Hearing that the bus driver nodded.

"Well then, I'll leave now" he answered.

"Good luck" the phoenix said as he wavering his hand.

With this, Velkan started walking down the street passing by the park. ' _I guess I'll ask for the direction of the school to the first person I see_ ' he thought.

- **Main Street, Human City** -

After walking for a while in the park he I found a couple of people but didn't know how to tell the location of the school with precision. He was tempted to simply spread his wings, look for school buildings from the heights and fly to them when he heard a cry that came from a nearby fountain. By looking more carefully he noted that a child had stumbled and his leg was bleeding slightly. Before he decided to help the child to get up, a young woman dressed as a nun with blonde hair and light green eyes leaned, said a few words to the child and put his hands on the wound, which seemed to emanate a strange green glow. The boy who accompanied her was wearing a school uniform and his hair and eyes were light brown, he almost let go of the suitcase he was carrying although he didn't know if it was the impression from what was going on or was due to something else. When Velkan turned to observe the child again his leg had no longer any injuries and the nun smiled at him. The phoenix's attention became curiosity, so he decided to ask them about the school, and in the process find out about her mysterious abilities.

Before he could speak to them the child's mother appeared and called her son a little worried, perhaps by the sight of him surrounded by three older students.

"Mom, she healed me" he heard the boy say.

"Let's get out of here. Do not ever talk to strangers away from me understand?" the mother scolded him as they walked away.

"Hey, you should be grateful to Asia for what she did," replied the young brown hair. Velkan looked at the couple and presented them with his question.

"Excuse me" he said. "I'm looking for the Kuoh Academy. Could you tell me where it is?" he asked politely. The nun looked at phoenix with an apologetic look.

"Oh, hello. My name is Asia Argento. I'm sorry but I'm not from here, I just got into town. Maybe he can show you the way, after all he attends that school." she said with a sweet smile. The other young man came out of his anger at the ungrateful mother and looked at Velkan.

"Oh sure. Issei Hyoudou. Nice to meet you" he said as he offered his hand.

"Velkan Santino" he replied and shake his hand. "So it is true that you're going to that school?" he ask.

"That's right. I can take you there, but I must take Asia to church near the academy," said Issei.

"I have an idea. Why do not you come with us?" wonder Asia. The expression of Issei told him he wanted to spend some time alone with her, but Velkan had no time to waste.

"Really? I do not want to be a bother" he said pretending courtesy. Issei had no choice but to accept.

"No, no. It's okay. I'll take you to school. I was heading there to begin with" the boy assured him. And so they began to walk the city streets. Along the way they had a normal conversation, as it would have with anyone you've just met. That is until they began to speak of her ability.

"By the way, what you did in the park was impressive," the redhead said. "What was that?"

"I was blessed with this gift since birth" Asia said.

"So this "gift" was given to you by the church?" Issei wonder. Asia looked at him and replied "I consider it a gift from God ..." and suddenly lowered her head slightly. No one noticed that under her veil her gaze was turning into one of sadness. "It's wonderful" he said in a whisper.

"Look, I think that's the church you were looking for, isn't Asia?" Velkan said to see the building. It seemed like it had been abandoned a long time ago.

"Yes, that's the one!" the nun said recovering the emotion in her voice. Issei smiled but something happened to his hand; it was a kind of tic and Velkan notice it for the second time.

"It's the only church we have. The truth is I don't remember seen anyone go there" Issei said.

"Really? That's weird" Velkan said curiously.

"Let me thank you properly. Would you like to accompany me inside?" said while smiling happily. Issei began to act a little nervous and the tic of his hand was more obvious to the phoenix.

"N-No. I can't, I have to show Velkan the school. Sorry" Issei said. Velkan smiled, he thought he knew what the problem was here.

"Oh, it's okay. Well, if you are in the neighborhood come visit me at the church okay?' Asia said as farewell.

"Of course. I'll come one of these days" Velkan said with a smile.

"See you. Have a good one" Issei said. When she was far enough away to not hear them, they retook the way to school. Velkan looked back to make sure and then addressed to Issei.

"So, since when are you a devil?" he asked casually. Upon hearing the question, Issei didn't know what to do or how to respond to that. The phoenix juts looked at him and chuckled.

"Relax. I'm just curious. I saw how you behave around her when she heal that child and how you reacted when we were invited to the church. It's obvious that you haven't been a devil for a long time" he said to Issei, who at this point I didn't know who was this guy who apparently knew about his newly acquired condition of "devil".

"I won't hurt you. I just want to see your master" the phoenix assure him. "I know there is a devil who controls this city and I'd like to talk to her" he said. Issei was not so sure about it, but finally accepted the request of the redhead. Before their regular classes two boys take a detour to the area of the old building, where some of the clubs were located. The brown-haired boy couldn't help wondering how it is that this guy knew it was a devil, but more importantly... how he knew that his master was a girl?. The door of the room where they arrived had a sign that said "Occultt Research Club".

- **Kuoh Academy, ORC Clubroom** -

"Good morning" Issei said when he opened the door of the club. The interior of the room seems to have too many comforts because there were three long couches around a coffee table; behind this there was a small kitchen and next to it was a door that Issei knew it leaded to a bathroom that included a couple of showers. The only thing missing was a space to accommodate some beds and this could be mistaken for a small apartment.

Velkan came behind Issei and noticed the presence of more people within; a girl with short white hair and hazel eyes was sitting on the couch in front of them eating some candies, a young man with short blond hair and gray eyes reading a book sitting on the couch at the right and a redhead girl with blue eyes was standing at the window, thinking. Hearing Issei say hello they turned to see him.

"Hi Issei, how did it go?" the blonde asked, momentarily leaving aside his book.

"Hi ..." was all the little girl said. The girl at the window seemed not to react because whatever he was thinking, but finally she greeted him.

"Welcome back Issei. I need you to..." she said before noticing the presence behind her newest servant. "Oh, did you bring a friend with you?" she asked a little surprised but you could tell she was a bit upset with Issei for bringing a stranger to the base of the devils in the area.

"Good morning." he said as he bowed. "I come here looking for an audience with you, Lady Rias of the House of Gremory". Hearing the direct presentation of the phoenix, everyone had different reactions; Kiba threw the book, formed a sword in his right hand and pointed it at the stranger; Koneko jumped over the couch and placed in front of Rias to protect her while the redhead remained in place with a stern face.

"Who are you and what do you want?" the blonde asked, much less friendly than before. Velkan raised his hands to indicate that he had no weapons nor magic prepared.

"No-no! it's okay! he just wants to speak with Rias" Issei said quickly, trying to calm everyone. The phoenix smiled at the group's reactions.

"Is this how you receive your visitors? If I had known would have called before" he said as a joke. Rias relaxed his expression and smiled at this.

"You must excuse us but it is weird that someone who knows about my title visit us without using a portal. Well, you know my name. Do you have one?" she said while making a sign to others to lower their guard. The phoenix lowered his hands too.

"My name is Velkan Santino. I just came here to deliver a message, but before that... may I?" he said as he gestured to get something out of his trench coat. Rias allowed him and Koneko went to the couch again to eat her candies again while looking cautiously at Velkan. The phoenix pulled a scroll and handed it to Rias.

"This is a personal request addressed to your brother. I beg you to deliver it the next time you see him" he said. The leader of the group took the note, which had a seal that she did not recognize from any family of devils. As she read it, Kiba made disappear the sword that he had when he didn't perceive any danger from Velkan.

"Are you serious?" Rias wonder a bit puzzled. "You want to be able to use the portal of my family?".Velkan nodded still smiling.

"We can discuss that later. The message, however, requires your immediate attention" Velkan said with some seriousness. "I've been told that a stray devil called Vizer needs to be hunted down in this area and they've asked you and you peerage to dealt with it" he said. Rias thought for a moment before speaking again.

"Okay, this will be an opportunity to teach Issei our roles in a battle" she said addressing to the group. "Tonight we'll meet here and try to locate..." she said before being interrupted by the phoenix, whom had raised his hand this time to avoid being rude. "Yes Velkan?" she said a little upset.

"I can save you the time you'll waste on searching this devil and tell you where it is..." the redheaded boy said. After a pause, all of them sensed there was going to be a "but" involved. "... but, you have to let me go with you tonight"

Rias was about to refuse, because she didn't know anything about this boy and it goes without saying she didn't trust him. The rest of the Gremory group was in a similar position. But then Velkan said something no one expected.

"After all, you could use the support of a phoenix, I'm I wrong?" he said as a smirk formed on his face.

Hearing this and just like when Velkan came everyone in that classroom had different reactions, each one noted by the phoenix; Koneko stopped eating and tensed, revealing that she was afraid; Kiba and Issei were confused because they hadn't heard of the phoenix before; and despite the fact that they were right, Rias could only think in another kind of phoenix and a question arose in her mind, one who failed to answer. _'So soon?_ '. Velkan couldn't help but laugh a little at the various reactions that the revelation provoked in them. _'Things will get interesting around here'_ the phoenix thought. But his thoughts were interrupted by a melody coming from one of the pockets of his trench coat. Instinctively Velkan check it out and pull a cellphone out.

"It seems that another issue that requires my presence has emerged. See you all tonight" he said while wavering his hand saying goodbye, leaving the entire ORC in a state that was between surprise and confusion.

- **Kuoh Academy, Old Building Hallways** -

Upon leaving the classroom Velkan reviewed the message that had taken him out from his meeting with Rias and his peerage. It must be important for they to make contact so he read it.

 ** _We need to talk. As soon as you can_**

 ** _-N-_**

The phoenix didn't have that much contacts on his phone memory, just the ones he needed. Between his bosses, his co-workers and close friends totaled less than 25 numbers and even if the text he just received didn't came with a name he knew exactly who sent it. He was so focused on what that person might want that he didn't realized that just around the corner of the hallway was a girl in school uniform with long black hair combed in a ponytail tied with an orange ribbon and violet eyes. She had a voluptuous figure and appeared to be the same age as Rias. Velkan and the girl bumped into each other and fell to the ground, throwing both his cellphone and the bunch of papers she was carrying.

"I'm so sorry!" Velkan said as he got up quickly. "I wasn't paying attention and I..." he said but was speechless, because until now he saw more carefully the girl before him. Her beauty had impressed the phoenix, and for a being that can literally live forever very few women had achieved that effect on him.

"No, don't worry. I was also distracted and..." said the girl. Her face was hard to decipher as it was surprised at the sudden bump, long enough to Velkan noticed a brief and slight blush on her face. But her usual smile returned to her quickly. Both of them stared for a moment before common sense returned to the phoenix and offered a hand to the girl to help her up.

"Sorry about the mess, let me help. I am Velkan by the way" the phoenix said.

"Thank you. My name is Akeno Himejima" she answered politely. A glint formed in the eyes of the phoenix as they got all the papers from the floor.

"I take it that you are part of Rias's peerage yes?" he asked. Akeno sensed that he should be a devil because he knew the identity of Rias so she didn't think he was dangerous.

"That's right. Are you a devil too?" she asked.

"Not exactly. I just came to talk with Lady Rias" Velkan answered. "I was on my way out, but I look forward to work with you soon" he said as he took her hand. "It was a pleasure Ms. Himejima" he said after kissed her hand.

"My my, a true gentleman aren't you?" she said while putting her other hand on her cheek.

"I was taught to treat a lady with respect" Velkan said modestly.

"Well the pleasure was mine Mr. um.." Akeno said realizing that he jus mentioned his first name.

"Just Velkan" he said.

"Aw, a mysterious gentleman uh? Well then Mr. Just Velkan I hope to see you again" she said. She organized her papers and continued her way to the clubroom. The phoenix watched her until she entered and closed the door.

 _'Oh yeah, things are going to be very interesting around here'_

- **ORC Clubroom** -

"Hi everyone!" Akeno said while closing her eyes and showed a smile. But hearing no answer she opened her eyes and her smile faded a bit.

"Did something happen?" she asked waiting for someone to tell her anything. Kiba looked at the redhead girl and knew something wasn't right, she wasn't distracted that easily. Koneko was still thinking about the phoenix; if he was a devil that means this is about the engagement between Rias and one of the sons of the House of Phoenix. However, if he was real phoenix... she didn't want to think about it specially for something that was taken from her long time ago... for something a phoenix take from her a long ago. Issei break the silence after a few moments.

"A boy who said he was a phoenix came here to talk to Rias" he said casually. Hearing this Akeno gasped and looked to Rias, who was still deep in thought.

"I believe classes are about to begin. Why don't you go ahead?" she suggested. Rias came out of his trance and headed to the group.

"She's right. You better go or you'll be in trouble. Don't forget to come back here after classes end up" she announced. Once everyone left Akeno approached to Rias intending to calm her friend.

"Do you think they brought forward the engagement?" she asked.

"I hope not, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did it" Rias said. "Why nobody asked for my opinion?" she said with tearing eyes. Akeno hugged her while trying to understand the situation in which her friend was involved.

"Everything will be okay" Akeno said. After a moment she let her go and took the papers she left in the coffee table. "We'll deal with that when the time comes. For now we got job to do" she said with a smile. "Lord Gremory, your father, has entrusted us to eliminate a stray devil named..." she said before being interrupted by Rias, who gave her a confused look.

"Vizer?" she said as a question.

"Y-Yeah, how did you know?" Akeno asked intrigued.

"The phoenix that came here today, Velkan. He told us he would come with us to hunt her tonight" she answered. Akeno went through the paper she was carrying and showed one in particular to Rias.

"That can't be possible. This order came directly from your father. Only he, his bishop who handed it to me, you and I have seen the order. How could he know this?" Akeno said.

"I think we should ask him in person" Rias said making Akeno smile slightly hearing this.

"He didn't seem that bad you know" she said. The redhead girl glared at her and chuckled.

"Don't tell me you're falling for a member of the House of Phoenix" she said. "I must admit that he was handsome but I got my eye on my newest servant" she said referring to Issei.

"I know Issei is cute and all but Velkan is more like gentleman" she said with a blush. "By the way if he truly is a member of the House of Phoenix, isn't weird that he has red hair instead of being blonde like the rest of them?" Akeno wondered.

"That's another thing we must ask him tonight" Rias said as she went towards the door. "I think we better go to our class too" she said before looking at Akeno. "And thank you for being there for me". The girl nodded and both of them went to the main building.

- **Meanwhile, Academy Grounds** -

Velkan went on his way while making a call to the person he knew had sent the message.

" ** _Velkan? is that you?_** " the voice on the phone asked. It sounded sleepy, as if just woken up even though it was already noon.

"Very funny Nick, we both know I'm your only contact on your phone" the phoenix answered.

" _ **Right, I forgot about that. Anyway, we need to talk about your assignment**_ " Nick said with a serious voice.

"Oh yeah? What about it?" Velkan asked.

" ** _I trust that you are aware of the implications of this. Can you repeat me the orders they gave you?_** " Nick said.

Velkan wasn't sure where this conversation was leading to. Nick was what you may call a "support agent" and was in charge of giving missions and assignments as well as the details of these to the field agents, like Velkan was. Therefore, if a support agent contacted a field agent before the latter fulfill its objective it meant that something was wrong.

"My mission, as I was informed, it's to locate and look out for a list of individuals among which is..." he said as he pulled a note from his trench coat and read it aloud. "Rias Gremory and her peerage, consisting by Kiba Yuto, Koneko Tojou, Akeno Himejima and Issei Hyoudou; as well as a group of students of Yokai Academy that includes Moka Akashiya, Kurumu Kurono, Yukari Sendo, Mizore Shirayuki, Tsukune Aono, and Joseph Hawk. Once I locate them another agent will give me instructions about how to proceed" he finished retelling his orders to Nick. "The thing is, you didn't mention that some girls from the list would be so beautiful" he chuckled while recalling the incident with Akeno a few moments ago.

" ** _Is that so? Anyone in particular?_** " Nick asked curiously. In all the time that the two of them worked together he never knew of any women, target or colleague, that had caught the eye of the phoenix.

"As you usually say... That's classified" he said as he regained his serious tone. "And now you'll tell me that this is about?" he asked.

" ** _Well guess what... I'm giving you instructions about how to proceed_** " the voice on the phone said. Velkan closed his eyes as if someone had just insulted him. Very few people could piss off the phoenix. Unfortunately for him, Nick was one of them and the fact that he was trying to rush his mission wasn't helping at all.

"What are you talking about? I haven't seen some of the names of the list personally" he said as calmly as he could at that time.

" ** _But you know where they'll be right?_** " Nick asked.

"Just give a few more days and I'll be completely sure about the whereabouts of all them" Velkan said. It wasn't his custom to ask for favors because that implied owing a favor to that person, that's why the pacts existed to begin with. But Nick was the one who was more in contact with the bosses and could inform them about the situation and receive an answer faster than Velkan could.

" ** _Fine, I may forget to report this to the boss until three days from now. It's all the time I can buy you this time_** " Nick said.

"That's all I need men" the phoenix said.

" ** _By the way, how useful was the info I got you? It wasn't easy to get into the chambers of Lord Gremory, take a look at his office papers and find something you could use_** " Nick asked trying to figure out is the risk was worthy.

"Actually it was. Tonight I'll go to hunt down a stray devil, so I get quality time with them and see what they are capable of" he answered. "I need to get going man but thanks for that"

" ** _Right. I'll call you in a few days_** " Nick said and hung up. Velkan kept his phone back on his coat and went to checking into a hotel near the school.

- **Abandoned Building, Nighttime** -

The presence of demons has an effect on the public lighting causing it to shut down. This does not affect the sight the Gremory group because their skills and senses are considerably better at night. The phoenix however, have no such luck so Velkan had to follow them closely to keep up. The portal Akeno cast left them in an alley to avoid someone saw them, but the abandoned building that Velkan told where she was going to be was just crossing the street.

"Yeah, that's the place" Velkan said pointing the building. Both Rias and Akeno decided to wait until the job was finished to ask their questions.

"According to the reports, this stray has been tricking people into that abandoned house and feeding them" Akeno said.

"Oh God, that's gross!" Issei said with disgust.

"How is that a normal devil becomes a stray devil?" Velkan asked curiously

"When a devil servant separates or kill his master to gain freedom for any reason, then becomes a stray" Kiba answered his question.

"Uh, interesting" the phoenix said. Once they reached the entrance of the building Velkan addressed to the group. "I'll go to the back entrance to keep her from escape" he announced.

"Ok, just be careful." Rias said. Velkan looked at her and smiled. The phoenix just made a "yes sir" gesture with two fingers on his forehead as he disappeared in the corner of the house. The rest of the group walked inside the place and Rias began to explain the basics of the evil pieces.

"Say Issei, are you familiar with chess?" she asked.

"I know how to play it but I kind of suck at it" he replied.

"As I'm the master I would be the King. Each devil with a nobility title is given a set of chess pieces and can give their servants its traits. I want you to watch this battle so you can learn the role everyone play in this group" she said before seeing Koneko sniffing the air.

"She is here" Koneko warned. As if on cue a women's voice filled the place.

"What is this that filth I smell?, it's disgusting... but there is something else that smells delicious. Is that sweat or maybe blood?" she said. Showing herself from behind a pillar, a naked woman gave the group a death glare.

"Devil Stray Vizer, in the name of the Duke Gremory be gone or meet your end" Rias commanded. Vizer laughed at her words.

"Just give it a rest you little slut. I'll just rip your body and paint the floor red as your hair!" she yelled as a big hand tried to crush her, forcing them to avoid the attack.

"Is everyone alright? Kiba!" she said. Kiba formed a sword on his hand and in a second he was in front of Vizer. Rias turned to Issei and continued the lesson.

"Wow. He just vanished." the newest devil said surprised.

"No he's just moving very fast. In this chess game he is my knight. His trait is blinding speed and his weapon of choice, a sword" she said as Kiba made two slashes and a scream was heard in the place. Both arms of Vizer were cut off.

"AAAAHHHHHHHRRGGHH! How dare you!" she yelled in pain. Koneko was just standing between the stray and the group while Kiba returned to Rias' side. "I'll kill you all!" Vizer threated. One of her legs tried to stomp Koneko who was still standing without doing anything to avoid it.

"KONEKO!" Issei said but before he could go and try to save her Rias put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay" she said calmly. The giant foot stomp and Koneko disappeared. "Koneko is my tower and her trait is absolute strength. She is fine, trust me" she reassured him. After the dust and the debris settled they could see the small girl holding the weight of Vizer and threw her across the room.

"See you on the other side" Koneko said plainlyand threw the stray to the other side of the lobby. Vizer managed to stood up and tried to run to the back entrance, the only other way out of this place. But it was in vain. A redhead boy appeared in front of her and raised his hands at his sides, forming small clouds of ashes barely visible.

"Who the hell are you?! Another devil?!" a terrified Vizer asked.

"No, no, I'm much worse that a devil." he said with a grin as his eyes shined bright red less than a second "Sorry, but I can't let you escape". Suddenly, fire began to appear from his hands and soon all the ashes were in fire. "Nothing personal against you or anything. Just business" he said. The flames covered the back entrance and the corridor leading to it. The stray ran back to where the group of devil was, whom seem surprised to see fire inside the building.

Their surprise become shock when they saw Velkan walking out from the fire as if nothing.

"Oh don't let me interrupt you, please continue" he said casually. Rias turned to see her group again.

"Akeno?" Rias said as a command. The girl with the ponytail stepped in with a smile on her face.

"Is it already my turn? How exciting!" Akeno said as she seemed to be having fun walking towards the stray. "I got news for you. You're not the only one who likes to play rough here" she said while raising her hand above her head. "Let's have some fun together!" she said as small sparks started to came out from her hands.

"Akeno is my queen and her specialty is magic attacks" Rias indicate to Issei. A lightning bolt hit Vizer for ten good seconds. When it was over the stray was suffering from the pain but Akeno wasn't finished with her just yet.

"Are you enjoying this as much as I do? Can we play a little more?" Akeno asked while charging another lightning strike. This one lasted fifteen second but for Vizer, who was at this point lay on the ground it seemed like an hour.

"Personally I wouldn't agree my enemies to suffer this kind of torture" Velkan said catching everyone's attention. "But of course, Vizer is not my enemy. So I'll let this one pass"

"He's right. Akeno, I'll take it from here" Rias said and Akeno looked a little disappointed.

"Aw. Over already? I was just starting to enjoy myself" she replied with a hand on her blushed cheek. The red-haired girl approached the fallen stray to carry out the sentence.

"Any last words?" she asked Vizer. The stray was exhausted, in great pain and none of them couldn't understand most of what she was saying. Just two words came out from her mouth between gasps. Just two words that would end her suffering... forever.

"K-Kill... me" she pleaded.

"Then disappear" Rias answered coldly. A bolt of black and red energy formed on her hand and threw it at Vizer. She didn't have time to scream as a small explosion of energy virtually disintegrate her body.

"We are done here" she announced. Koneko, Kiba and Issei went ahead to the entrance and waited for the others. Velkan was on his way out but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Not you. We have to talk with you" Rias said in a commanding tone.

"I imagine you have lots of questions but right now I have something to do" he replied as Akeno approached him from the other side.

"Can you at least answer one question?" she asked with a saddened face. Velkan couldn't resist seeing her like that for some reason.

"Fine, just one question"

"Why are you here? I know that you didn't came here just to help us kill Vizer" Akeno asked. Velkan smiled at her

"I can't say much... But you're right, mostly." the phoenix admitted. "I promise I'll answer your question in our next meeting"

With that he walked away leaving the two confused girls behind.

"I don't believe he's a devil" Rias finally said.

"Right. He's something else" Akeno agreed. "We better go home and try to talk with him tomorrow"

They joined the rest of the group and Akeno cast a portal leading to the clubroom back in the school. An idea crossed the mind of the phoenix as he watched Rias's peerage disappear into the street.

' _I think I'll bring Nick to the next meeting with them, they deserve to know._ '

* * *

 **This one was a fun episode to write so I hope you enjoy reading it. I'll see you all next time. Any comments and ideas are more than welcome.**


	5. In the pool of the mermaids

**Hello amigos and welcome back to another chapter of Book I: Burning Cold. Today I have an special note to make... well, a few of them actually. First thing first, this book (story) will be about the first season of each anime with my OCs in it.** **Second; Joseph's kind will be revealed soon, but if you have any guess feel free to share it.** **Third; the two groups WILL meet, but probably won't happen until Book II. Fourth, check out the Prologue of this story, I updated it now that I got slightly improved my writing skills. I hope you like it.**

 **That will be all for now, and without more delay here it is today's chapter.**

* * *

-[The pages belonging to this chapter are separated from the book, as if they had been added at a later date.]-

 _Some weeks ago, we were involved in a mission that required spending much time in surveillance. That implied being cooped up in a hotel room with other team members and on that occasion was Tsukune, Kurumu and Koneko. During the time we spent had plenty of time to share stories among ourselves while we watched our target (from whom I can not to discuss much about, except maybe the fact that he was a stray vampire trying to lead a gang of thieves in a human city... oops my bad :) ) and one story in particular caught my attention. Tsukune began to tell about an event that happened before formally I introduce myself to them; I understand it happened while I was on the meeting with the Gremory group for the first time. This incident, which involved mermaids, was too related to the story that I keep in my journals and I thought it would give more context to it, so I wrote it down and I added as an annex between the corresponding entries._

 _Personally I have good relations with the mermaids, I'm still welcome at some of their settlements. Their hospitality is legendary among the non-human races and their beauty is something worth noting (after all I fell from the cliff near Yokai Academy just to get a mermaid's phone number, but that's for another occasion). Through history they have been famous for make ships to run aground in the human world, including the myth of Odysseus and a little incident involving a group of mermaids and Jason and the Argonauts. Luckily for them their relationships with the humans are getting better, thanks to the efforts that the Dark Lords and the alphas are doing in cooperation with the human leaders to maintain the peace._

 _Anyways, I'll begin this story and give the point of view of Tsukune and Kurumu when the story requires so._

 **-Class 1-C Homeroom, Yokai Academy; Morning-**

The day Velkan left the monster realm in order to meeting with Lady Rias Gremory he believed he'd left Tsukune, Moka, Joseph and Kurumu sharing cookies and heading to their morning class. From what he had no idea of is the amount of troubles they will had to deal with that day. After reaching their homeroom they took different seats than the day before and ended up all next to each other. Tsukune chose to sit next to the window, he'd always liked sitting beside one when he attended human schools. Moka took her seat behind Tsukune; she wanted to sit by his side but Joseph won the place mainly because he did not want to be next to Kurumu, who ended up sitting behind Joseph and next to Moka mainly because now she considered them her first real friends at school. He hadn't completely forgiven the succubus; the truth was that he hadn't anything against her but didn't like at all that she had used him that way.

"Before you go I have an announcement for you!" Ms. Nekonome said when she heard the bell that indicate the end of the class. "In order to understand the human culture a little better you need to join a club! That's why the rest of your classes are cancelled for today. Oh, and don't forget to visit the newspaper club since I'm their teacher advisor".

A lot of growls were heard in the classroom, maybe by the fact of joining a club or perhaps by the idea of having to do to coexist with weak humans in their world.

"Does being in a club is mandatory?" Joseph asked when most of the students were gone.

"Actually it is. If a student hasn't joined one by the end of the week is in risk of being expelled" the teacher answered. "See you tomorrow and have a nice day!" and with that Ms. Nekonome left the classroom.

"Oh well, if the clubs are meant for you to understand the humans better I hope there at least one where I can go in" Tsukune whispered. They hadn't thought telling about Tsukune's human condition to Kurumu just yet; they needed more time to know her better.

"I'm sure there will be a lot to pick from" Moka said. "Say Tsukune, can we find one where the two of us can enter together?" she asked while blushing a little.

"Um... s-sure!" the human answered. Both of them look into each other eyes and they began a kind of loop, much like they did the day before.

"Oh Tsukune"

"Oh Moka"

"Oh Tsukune"

"Oh Moka"

"Do you mind if I join you?" Joseph asked.

"No, of course not" Moka said after she regained her senses. "Let's find a club where the three of us can get in".

Tsukune was happy because he could be with his only friends and even happier because he could spend more time with Moka. However he noticed that Kurumu was too quiet in her seat.

"Do you want to come with us?" he asked her kindly, getting the attention of the succubus. She looked at him and smiled

"No it's okay, I'll be fine by myself". But Joseph wasn't so sure about her intentions.

"And what exactly are you going to do? Will you try charm all the guys you see again?" the blonde asked sarcastically.

"Ah, h-how can you say that?!" Kurumu said as if insulted.

"So you don't deny it?... funny" Joseph said grinning.

"Well... I still have to find my Destined One, remember?. Besides I won't charm too many as last time" she said while smiling weakly.

"Just take it easy, will you?" Tsukune said.

"I'll try. See you later" the succubus said and left the classroom.

"We better go too. Come on Tsukune" Moka said as she grabbed Tsukune's arm and practically dragged him out of the classroom, leaving behind a confused Joseph.

"Those two are going to end up together. I just know it" he chuckled.

 **-Academy Grounds-**

The three friends started to walk the huge central courtyard, which was prepared for the occasion with school clubs ready to welcome potential new members. Unfortunately none of them seemed to be appropriate for a human to join.

"You got to be kidding me!" Joseph said in frustration. "The last clubs we visited wanted Moka to drink some strange potions or take her pictures to make sure there was no ghost behind her, and this last one... I didn't even know you could make an explosive with a sock, a fuse and a bit of powdered milk"

"How it is that they allow students making bombs there? And what they can be possibly doing in the Mummy Club?" Tsukune asked, who at this point was starting to worry about not being able to be with Moka in a club.

"I'm sure there's something we can do together" the vampire assure him. Suddenly a commotion was heard near them.

"What's that about?" Joseph asked. When they turned to look found that it was a crowd around the pool area. Oddly enough, most of those who were there were boys.

"T-the pool?" Moka said a little scared.

"Welcome to the Swim Club!" a girl in swimsuit announced. The boys in the crowd cheered for her and began signing up with the girl in charge of admissions.

"You won't regret! Right now we are only girls in the club but we'll make you feel welcome here!" another girl said.

"Now THAT'S a great strategy to attract people. How clever" Joseph said. Tsukune was delighted by the idea of seeing Moka in swimsuit so it might not be such a bad idea to go and see this club and consider the possibility of joining to it. ' _Better than seeing Moka every day_ _in a club... is seeing Moka every day in a club wearing swimsuit. Besides I hope I can impress her with my swimming skills_ ' the human thought.

"Why don't we check it out?" he asked trying to hide his excitement.

"Oh.. but I.. eh.." Moka babbled a bit, trying to find a way to say something to him.

"Look who's already in the water" Joseph said interrupting the vampire's thoughts. When they looked more carefully noticed that there were three guys around a girl who was familiar for its distinctive blue hair. Only instead of her usual yellow sweater and skirt school, the succubus had chosen to wear a golden two-piece bikini. This, for obvious reasons, encouraged even more the present viewers.

"Kurumu is in this club!" a boy next to the trio commented.

"If she is here maybe is worth joining this club" other boy replied.

"Why I'm not surprised?" Joseph asked himself sarcastically.

"Well, this is the only "normal" club we've seen so far and Kurumu is here too so... why don't we enter this club?" Tsukune concluded much to Moka's shock.

"Tsukune... the truth is..." the vampire began to explain but was interrupted again, this time by one of the girls of the swim club.

"Oh you are Tsukune right?" she asked nicely. The girl had turquoise hair and dark brown eyes; she was wearing a purple two-piece bikini and a pair of golden hair clips. Since the trio had stopped to watch the pool she had her eye on Tsukune.

"My name is Tamao Ichinose and I'm the leader of the Swim Club. Why don't you come with me and I'll try to convince you to join the club?" the girl asked seductively. Tsukune didn't get a chance to reply because was practically dragged by Tamao away from his friends. "You'll need to put a swimsuit to get into the pool, sweetie". And with that the human was separated from the group, leaving a confused Joseph and a bit upset Moka behind.

 **-Pool Area-**

Kurumu had reached the pool area a little before than the others and during all this time she had tried to charm some boys to see if any of them could be her Destined One. However, something wasn't right; despite the fact that there were at least twenty boys in the water and other fifteen on the edge of the pool, she couldn't attract more than four at the time.

"Mm, weird" she told herself. ' _For some reason when I try to charm the fifth guy my head hurt. Should I let the others know?_ '. With this reasoning she looked among the crowd for her new friends but didn't find them immediately, until she recognize a blonde boy wearing a dark green swimming trunks, floating peacefully in a corner of the pool. ' _Of course, from all of them it had to be him_ ' she thought. She was aware that he didn't liked her, and perhaps he was right not to trust her. After all, she did hurt the three of them but the one she used in order to get what she wanted was Joseph. ' _I guess I'll have to earn his trust huh?_ '. With this determination she swam to where the blond was and when he saw her, he received with his usual sarcasm.

"Ah Kurumu. Any of them was worth to be your Destined One?" Joseph asked.

"No" she replied sadly. "But that's not the point. I think something is going on here". Joseph glare at her with disbelief.

"Really? What makes you think that?" he asked.

"Usually I can charm at least ten guys at the same time but now my head hurts when I try to get the fifth one" the succubus answered a little concerned. Joseph couldn't help laughing a little.

"And you think something is weird just because you can't attract a few more boys? Don't you think you are overreacting?" the blond asked.

"You have to believe me, this never happened to me" she replied, lowering her head in defeat. Joseph sighed. Despite he didn't like her he couldn't stand seeing her that way.

"How it works?" he asked after a few minutes. Kurumu looked at him tilting her head.

"How what works?"

"The Destined One thing. You just see him and you know he is the one?" he asked curiously. Kurumu was surprised by the sudden change of subject but she was happy for having a friendly chat with him.

"Well, according to my mom, we are the ones that feel it first. If we spent time near our Destined One he will feel it too and both of us will be bounded forever" the succubus answered honestly. For the first time Joseph saw her like a friend and not only as "The girl that had used him". It was a nice change.

"Isn't that like... cheating?" he asked

"Huh?"

"I mean, if you and your mate are destined to be together, which is the point of meeting new people if you already know who will you end up with?" the blond said casually. It took Kurumu a while to answer that. She herself didn't know it but in the end she said what she thought was the best answer.

"I think finding my Destined One is very important... but the friends I make while I find him will be irreplaceable". Joseph looked at her and smiled. After a while, the blond tried to break the silence.

"Back to your current trouble with the guys... what you think it may be?" he asked while watching the pool area carefully.

"I don't know, usually I can attract them when they look into my eyes" Kurumu began to tell.

"Yeah, I know" he said remembering the day before.

"Sorry about that" she chuckled a little. "Anyway, when they do it I can control them but for some reason some it doesn't have any effect on some of them" the succubus said while she looked around, trying to find the cause.

"Maybe we should..." Joseph said before being interrupted by a boy yelling. Both of them recognized that voice from Tsukune.

"MOKA!"

When the turned, they saw Tsukune in swimming trunks being dragged away by some of the girls of the Swim Club and Moka ran away the pool still in her uniform. Joseph and Kurumu were confused to say the least, but they decided to find out what was going out.

"That's a new one. Those two are very close to each other, I don't think I ever saw them fight before" Joseph admitted.

"Are you serious? It's obvious she's upset because those girls take Tsukune away" Kurumu said. "I'll go talk to her. Why don't you tell Tsukune about vampires and water? I'm sure he will appreciate some advice"

"Yeah I think you're right" Joseph replied while getting out of the water and helped the succubus as well. They parted ways and went with their friends. ' _It seem Kurumu was right. Something is doesn't feel right here_ '.

 **-Tsukune's side of the story-**

The human boy was sitting on the edge of the pool thinking. He'd driven away Tamao by telling her he needed a few moments alone. Tamao smiled and told him not to take that long. The blond saw his friend and went to see what happened.

"Hey man, we saw Moka running away. Is everything ok?" Joseph asked curiously. Tsukune looked at him concerned.

"I don't know. I just wanted to spent time with her"

"I guess it was partly our fault" Joseph admitted. "Honestly I thought you knew it but I should've known that you were too shy to ask her"

"What are you talking about? Knew about what?" he asked intrigued, desperate for knowing what he has done wrong. Joseph chuckled a bit.

"Well, let's say that vampires and water don't get along too well. It's a weakness that they have been unable to overcome through generations" the blond explained.

"So it's not that she didn't wanted to swim with me... it's that she CAN'T swim with me!" he said relieved. Then turned to Joseph upset. "And how did you expect I knew that! YOU KNOW THAT I AM..." he said before being interrupted by his friend.

"A MUCH BETTER SWIMMER THAN I, YOU'RE RIGHT!" he said, making sure that the students near them heard him. Tsukune was confused but then he realized what he was about to say.

"You need to be more careful if you want to be in this school" Joseph reminded his human friend. After a moment in silence the blond speak again. "By the way, what was that about? Why did Moka leave?"

"I don't really know" Tsukune said a little concerned. "Do you think she's okay?"

"I bet she is" Joseph said. "Kurumu went to see how she was"

"You talked to Kurumu? I thought you didn't like her" Tsukune said surprised.

"Yeah, about that... I think I'll try and get to know her a little better if she'll be hanging out with us right?" the blond answered.

Before Tsukune could say anything about the change of attitude towards Kurumu, a few students near them suddenly submerged. A pair of fish-like tails raised in their place and disappeared just as fast after an instant.

"What the hell?" Tsukune said. Joseph felt a hand grabbing one of his ankles, therefore instinctively kicked off with his other leg. It must have worked since whatever it was let him go.

"We need to get out of the water" the blond suggested. "Everybody get out of the pool!" he announced.

"Don't go just yet, we're just starting" a voice that Tsukune recognized said.

"Tamao? Why are you doing this?!" he asked.

"Do you know her?" Joseph asked surprised. Tsukune nodded.

"She is the leader of the Swim Club"

"That's right... and let me tell you that your scent smells so good. It's almost like a human would be here" Tamao said.

"I don't know what you are talking about, I don't smell anything and believe me when I tell you I have a fine sense of smell" Joseph nervously said but after sniffing the air a little to prove his point his face went serious. "What I can smell is fish... weird"

"What are you talking about Joseph?" Tsukune asked.

"I think I know what's going on here" he said confidently. As if on cue a couple of girls began their transformation; their legs merged and a big fish tail replaced, their faces shifted and adopted fish traits. Surprisingly enough, their beauty didn't disappeared when the transformation ended.

"Mermaids" Joseph said while narrowed his eyes.

 **-Meanwhile, Kurumu's side of the story-**

Behind the gym building a vampire was trying to recover from the damage the water did to her. A couple of water drops touched her while a girl of the Swim Club splashed at her for fun back in the pool. She was sitting on the ground and blue sparks occasionally run through her body. The pain was intense but she was starting to feel better.

 _ **'What were you thinking about?! You know that water is the last thing any vampire want to have close. And yet you went to the pool'** _ Inner Moka scolded her **.**

 _'I just wanted to be in a club with Tsukune. I don't want to be a vampire anymore if that means I can't spend time with him'_ she thought.

 _ **'Tsukune isn't worthy. That weakling doesn't deserve us'** _ her Inner self replied.

 _'Stop it!'_ she yelled in her mind. She was on the edge of tears, and she was right. It seemed that there was only one club suitable for a human like Tsukune and unfortunately it turned out that it was the only club that could potentially kill her. Before her inner debate could continue a voice caught her attention.

"Moka?"

"K-Kurumu?" she asked trying to wipe her tears. She hadn't had a chance to talk with Kurumu alone since yesterday but in that moment it didn't matter. She needed to talk whit someone about her troubles and expected she could listen to her.

"I know you must hate me for yesterday... but I want you to know that I'm here to support you" the succubus said with a slight smile. Moka remained in silence, therefore Kurumu thought the vampire was still mad at her and decided to give her some space. However when she was turning to leave, Moka spoke.

"I don't know what to do" she said. Kurumu look at her and sat next to her. "I don't think Tsukune considered what the water can do to my kind"

"And you told him how dangerous it is for you?" Kurumu asked.

"Well... no. I didn't had the time to do so" Moka answered and Kurumu smiled at this.

"There you go. You know, I may be a little unorthodox about love but trust me, I know about these things. Just open up with him. I told Joseph to go and talk with Tsukune and I believe right now he knows about you and water"

"You talked with Joseph? I thought he didn't like you" Moka said with surprise.

"I don't think he forgive me just yet. I just want to make amends with him" the succubus answered. "Why don't we go back at the pool and convince the boys to find another club"

Moka was happy to talk with Kurumu about this kind of things and felt guilty for not telling her about Tsukune's true nature. She hoped being able to do it soon.

"Okay, let's go" Moka nodded. And with that both girls stood up and went towards the pool area. However when they reached the pool, there was only chaos was there to see.

"What the hell happened here?!" Kurumu yelled.

 **-Pool Area; Noon-**

In the water the mermaids had captured a few boys and on the edge of the pool the ones who managed to get out of the water were fleeing. When the girls arrived they could see Joseph, who was fighting with a mermaid near the water. Tsukune was nowhere to be seen.

"There is Joseph! I'll go to help him, you stay here" Kurumu said as she readied her claws and her wings and tail came out.

"But I must find Tsukune!" Moka replied. The succubus glare at her.

"Don't! If you are near the water you'll hurt yourself! I'll bring Joseph and we'll find him together" Kurumu said and went towards the blond.

"He must be around here" the vampire sighed.

The succubus reached Joseph just in time to push him and avoid a tail lash from the nearest mermaid.

"That was close" Kurumu said. The blond nodded. When they got up they positioned back to back, each of them facing two mermaids. Joseph extended his hand and his nails grew to form black claws of an inch long. Unlike Kurumu's nails, which were adapted to pierce her target, Joseph's claws were designed to cut through his preys.

"Wow, I didn't knew you had those" Kurumu said. Joseph grinned.

"Oh these. Yeah they are useful from time to time" he said.

A mermaid tried to attack Kurumu with her tail but failed as the succubus took flight behind and slashed her back. Kurumu decided to stay in the air for the time being. Joseph tried a more peaceful way to end the fight.

"How about we relax and try to enjoy the pool." he said without success. Both mermaids attacked at the same time, the one of the right with her claws and the other one tried to bite him. Joseph moved to the side, avoiding both of them and using his claws to counter. A few seconds later a mermaid fell into the water with a wounded stomach, and the other fell to the ground with her neck bleeding.

"Behind you!" Kurumu yelled from above. The girl that the succubus was supposed to take down went after the blond. Joseph turned to see the mermaid but he just stood there, just waiting. A slight light blue shine filled his eyes for less than a second and the temperature dropped lightly around him. The water, in combination with the cold, was enough for the mermaid to stop her attack and shivered, giving Joseph the time to stick his claws on her neck killing the girl instantly.

"Sorry girl" he muttered. _'Sorry sis, but she didn't gave me other choice'_

 _'What the hell was that?! Just what is he?'_ Kurumu thought. She decided to ask about it later. Joseph looked for Moka but when he saw her his eyed widened.

"Moka don't do it!" he yelled, making the succubus see at the place she had left her friend. She was terrified by the sight.

"What are you doing! You'll die!" she screamed but it was in vain. The vampire was already in the water. While Joseph and Kurumu were fighting, Moka saw Tsukune being dragged to the bottom of the pool by a mermaid. She hesitated at first but after a moment she was determined to save his human friend. So she jumped into the water. Unfortunately, the vampire passed out half way through, prey of the pain. Tsukune saw her, swam towards her and managed to get the Rosario off her neck. Inner Moka awakened and took his hand to carry him out of the water, but she didn't seem very happy. In the meantime, the leader of the Swim Club, Tamao Ichinose went to the surface.

"Just give up already. The only way for a woman to get her man is by force!" Tamao said. Kurumu glared at her.

"That's not true you bitch!" she replied. "Just because that is the fastest way doesn't make it the right one"

"You know that you're contradicting yourself right?" Joseph said to the succubus, which make her flinch at the comment.

"Hey! You're supposed to be on my side!" Kurumu said.

"Enough with you two! Girls, get them" Tamao ordered to the rest of the Swim Club. Suddenly a bright purple light filled the water, surprising everyone on the pool. A girl who appeared to be Moka with silver hair and red blood eyes came out.

" **How y-you dare to humiliate me!** " she said. She was in pain from the water but did her best to keep calm.

"What are you talking about? Are you jealous because I took your little boyfriend?" Tamao said.

" **I don't care about that weakling. But you will pay for ridicule me** " Inner Moka said in a calm manner but her voice was filled in anger.

"Shut up, even if you are an S-Class monster we have the advantage of being in our element" the leader of the mermaids said.

" **We'll see about that, you little fish** " the vampire scoffed. Inner Moka jumped across the pool and landed on the other side, avoiding the tail lash from the other mermaids. _**'If I recall correctly, the mermaids will lose the will to fight when their leader falls'**_ she thought. She rushed towards Tamao and hit her gut with a powerful kick, sending the mermaid up in the air. The vampire was about to jump and finish her but was draining her energy too fast and the pain wasn't helping, so she fell to her knees. 'As soon as she touch the water she'll recover again. I can not allow that' she thought. But before she could do anything, a succubus went straight to Tamao with her claws piercing her back and pushing her to the ground.

" **What on earth are you doing?** " Inner Moka scolded her.

"You're welcome" Kurumu said with a smile. Tamao was unconscious after Joseph knock her out with a blow to her gut and the rest of the mermaids ran away from the pool area, leaving the four friends alone and giving them time to recover from the fight. Tsukune was still a little weak from being almost drown to death but managed to reach Inner Moka.

"Moka I'm so sor-" was all he could say before a hand slapped his cheek.

" **I have nothing to say, you idiot! Get out of my way** " she said and turned to leave.

" **You made the other Moka cry** " she said in anger as small blue sparks run through her body and went towards Joseph and Kurumu.

" **And you**." she snapped at them. " **Try to interfere with my battles again and I will show you your places** "

"Just get better will ya?" the blond say. Inner Moka stormed off the pool area, heading to the dorm building.

"Moka" Tsukune sighed. His two friend tried to comfort him.

"Don't worry. I'm sure she will forgive you by tomorrow" Kurumu said confidently. "Right Joseph?"

"You're kidding?! I don't think she-" he said before the succubus nudged him. "I mean, yeah, Moka will be the same as usual. You'll see"

"Yeah, I hope you're right" the human said in defeat and leave his friend behind.

"Are you happy now?" Kurumu said when Tsukune couldn't hear them anymore. Joseph flinched.

"Sorry about that. But I really hope she forgive him by tomorrow"

"Yeah, me too" she replied. After they got changed and went to the dorms Joseph spoke again.

"Now that I remember, do you think that the mermaids where the ones that didn't let you attract the guys from the pool?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, I guess it was the presence of all of them. I could easily beat one or two mermaids with my beauty" she stated proudly. Joseph chuckled.

"Yeah you keep telling yourself that" he replied.

 **-Class 1-C Homeroom; Two days later-**

The class reached its end and Moka was nowhere to be seen for the last two days. But there was a little detail that apparently the four friends had forgotten and now Ms. Nekonome was reminding them about.

"But there wasn't enough time to see all the clubs" Kurumu whined. In the end she decided that the Swim Club wasn't the right club for her.

"You had four days to pass by. I know that you still have three more days to join one but if you don't mind, have you considered to check out the newspaper club?"

"Newspaper Club?" Joseph asked. "That actually doesn't sound that bad, what do you say man?". But the human wasn't in the mood for talking. Tsukune had been depressed all this time, wondering when will Moka forgive him... or if he will see her again. He was lost in his thoughts until a familiar and cheerful voice snapped him back to reality.

"That sound like fun!"

"Moka?" Tsukune said shocked.

"Where you'd been?" Kurumu asked, happy to see her friend again.

"I had to recover from the damage the water did to me" she explained.

"So you basically sleep for three days?!" Joseph asked.

"Yup" Moka said as if it was nothing. "So, Newspaper Club uh? You're joining too right Tsukune?"

"Of course. I'm so glad to see you're okay" he said with relief.

"Yay, now we won't have to close the Club for lack of new members" the teacher said cheerfully.

"Well then, I guess I'll be joining as well. How about you Kurumu?" Joseph asked.

"You bet blondy!" she replied.

"Hey! Where that came from?" he said shocked by the sudden nickname. And with that, the Newspaper Club was formed and all was set for a certain phoenix in the human world to come back any time soon. But unfortunately for the four friends math class was next and neither of them was especially happy for it to happen.

* * *

 **And that's all for today. Don't forget review and comment any ideas and thoughts you have. Have a nice day/night and see you next time :)**


	6. Of Saints and Sinners

**Hello amigos and welcome to another chapter of Journal of a Phoenix Book I: Burning Cold. And before you start asking no, I wasn't dead or anything. It's just that the laptop where I write the chapters was going all crazy and I had to get it repair. During all this time (I believe it's been 1 month an a half since the last chapter was published) I discovered two things: 1) I tried to edit or write a chapter on the mobile version of the site and guess what... is awfully difficult!... and 2) I actually made quite advances developing this story. I mean, I already have plans to at least season 4, or Book IV if you want.**

 **But enough of that for now. Read and review if you want... but mostly and I mean it... enjoy it :)**

* * *

 _"I believe it's time I reveal you all once and for all who I'm working for. As crazy as this may sound I swore when I began writing this journals that I will tell you all the truth, after all, what's the point in filling a book with lies?. But even so, I'll understand if you don't believe me, hell, even I didn't believe it when they contacted me. Anyway, my bosses... how do I put this without sounding like a madman?... Well, I think there is no easy way than just telling so here I go._

 _I'm working for two entities that have been there from the very beginning. Two beings that literally manage the existence of EVERYTHING that lives in the universe. Their names? Well, they are refereed by my colleagues as "The woman of the strings" and "The man of the afterlife"._

 _..._

 _I'll leave to your imagination their true names. In the meantime I can tell you they are, in my humble opinion, interesting people. It goes without saying that they are much more old than me, and the fact that they cannot say anything about when I'll be leaving this world for good or what the future has on store for me doesn't affect the fact that I enjoy our occasional conversations._

 _Having cleared that out and in order to continue my story, I'll tell you about the time when I had the honor of meeting one of the four Satans and brother of Rias Gremory, Sirzech Lucifer. Unfortunately, that was the same day that I had the misfortune of meeting an exorcist. Don't get me wrong, most of these holy men are good people. However, Freed Sellzen was far from being good..."_

 **-Morning Star Hotel, Morning Time-**

The Gremory group was busy that morning, because apparently they being devils wasn't enough reason to stop attending their classes. While they, or rather Issei was bored at school, certain phoenix was in his hotel's restaurant preparing himself to what he called "a perfect breakfast". His order would still take a while to arrive so dedicated himself to reading the local newspaper and a note caught his eye.

 **Abandoned building caught fire last night** '

The article gave details about a warehouse on the other side of the city that had been abandoned due to personnel cuts of the company that owned it and how a gas leak was the cause of the fire. Fortunately, according to the note's author, the fire didn't spread fast enough therefore the firefighters were able to control it. Velkan sighed in relief. _'Gas leak uh?' I guess I should make sure that the next build I burn ACTUALLY have a few gas lines around'_.

While he was waiting for his breakfast, someone saw the phoenix and smiled about it. It was a boy about the same height as Velkan, with black hair slightly longer than the phoenix and blue eyes; he was wearing a light blue shirt which had a drawing of a white skull and a black hooded sweater on top of that, dark blue jeans and white tennis shoes. He also was wearing a silver necklage with a black gem in its center. The boy went towards the redhead's table and sat down in front of him. Velkan lowered the newspaper just enough to see his unexpected visitor, sighed a little annoyed when he recognized him and went back to his reading.

"Will you mind telling me what is so important that you must interrupt my breakfast?"

"Come on man, aren't you glad to see me?" the boy asked. "How long has it been since the last time we met face to face?"

"Not enough time, I assure you" Velkan said recovering his good mood once the boy chuckled after that comment. "But yeah, it's nice to see you. And now back to business, isn't that why you came here Nick?"

"Unfortunately yes" Nick said in a serious tone. "I heard you handled that stray devil along with the servants of the Gremory girl"

"That's how it went. In fact, I was just reading the way her father covered the thing up" the phoenix said as he gave him the newspaper, which was on the page of the article of the abandoned warehouse.

"Lord Gremory didn't waste any time uh?" Nick said when he finished reading it. "You think he already knows about you?"

"I highly doubt it, but won't take him that long before noting someone like me wandering around his city" Velkan answered. "Perhaps that will be one of the topics of today's meeting"

"Will you meet with them?"

"Yes. Although I believe that most of it will be them throwing me a bunch of questions" the phoenix replied and looked at his friend to the eyes. "Actually... I was thinking that maybe you should come with me to this meeting and explain them-" he said before being cut off by Nick having a light laugh.

"You know I cannot do it man" the boy said. "The bosses don't allow any of us interfere with the present course of things". There was a little pause and Velkan sighed in defeat. "However..." Nick spoke again getting the phoenix's attention. "... I believe you can talk about 'certain details' if that help you with your current assignment"

"Just a few details... hmm... I guess that'll have to suffice for the time being" Velkan said as a waitress headed towards their table.

"Enjoy your breakfast" she said as she leave a black plastic tray with a wrapping of white paper.

"Thank you miss" Velkan replied. The waitress cheerfully nodded and leave them be. Nick looked at him cautiously as the phoenix unwrapped the envelop, revealing his breakfast.

"How can you eat that?!" he asked in surprise. Velkan looked at him confused and smiled.

"How can you NOT eat this?!" he said as he gave the first bite to his food, consisting by a double-meat cheeseburger with at least four bacon strips. "Trust me my friend, this is the best thing you can get for breakfast". Nick couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Dude... all that fat..." he said with disgust. Velkan couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. "I mean, I don't have anything against burgers but... Anyway, I'll leave you with... that thing you call food. Just try to not tell too much to the Gremory when you see them, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say" was the phoenix's answer, who was more focused on enjoying the taste of his burger than on listening his friend's warning. Nick shook his head and stood up from his seat.

"I'm serious Velkan" Nick said as he went towards the exit of the restaurant.

"I know you do" the phoenix said almost as a whisper once his friend left. After he finished his breakfast he dedicated himself to enjoy his time inside the hotel as they had agreed to meet up at night.

 **-ORC Clubroom, Nighttime-**

Velkan arrived at Kuoh Academy at sunset and by the time he came to the clubroom he noticed that every ORC member was already there; Rias and Akeno were on the futon that was facing the window, Kiba and Koneko were seated on the one at the right leaving Issei alone on the one at the left.

"I hope not to be late" the phoenix apologized as he sat next to the newest member of the group. He pulled out his pocket watch and saw the time. "I believe this is running a little late" he said as he began to try to calibrate it correctly.

"Don't worry, we were just finishing" Rias answered. "Issei, just remember our deal and bring me that contract, can you?" she asked. Issei grinned widely and stood up immediately.

"Of course president!" the boy said as he headed to the door, making Rias smile. "I'll do my best to touch those boobs!". The statement made Velkan stop and raise his view looking at Rias, part confused, part shocked. Akeno couldn't help a small laugh when she saw his expression and Kiba smiled a bit.

"As you can see, he very gets excited when it comes to women" the knight said trying to justify his friend.

"He's a perv" Koneko said dryly. Velkan looked at the blond and then to the little girl. "... Right" the phoenix said, directing his attention back to his watch and trying to process what just happened.

"Anyways, that will be all for today, see you tomorrow. Akeno, I'll need you to stay for a while longer" Rias said to the rest of the ORC with a smile. The knight and the rook stood up and Kiba extended his hand towards Velkan.

"See you later" he said.

"Sure men" the redheaded boy said as he shaked hands with Kiba. The phoenix was about to do the same with Koneko but she just walked past him without saying anything. "I'll see you too then". Hearing Velkan saying that, Koneko flinched when she was by the door but never lookecd back. Velkan was confused.

"Was something I said?" the phoenix asked curiously. Rias and Akeno looked at each other for a moment and were about to say something when suddenly something materialized on the floor of the room. It was a portal with a red seal carved in its center that the phoenix recognized instantly.

The portal faded away and in its place was a men that appeared to be in his twenties; he had long red hair and blue eyes; his attire consisted in a bussines black suit, with a white shirt, a dark green necktie and dark brown shoes. The best way to describe him was, in Velkan's opinion, as the male version of Rias.

"Ah, brother. Glad you're here" Rias said, who apparently was expecting his arrival. ' _So they ARE related after all. This is getting interesting_ ' the phoenix thought.

"It's a placer to have you back my Lord" Akeno said while bowing. She left after that to make some more tea. Although Velkan didn't knew who this guy was he bowed as well. ' _Manners first after all, right?_ ' he thought. The men of the suit smiled at the girls.

"Hello Rias, Akeno. It's good to be back". His face darkened and grow serious when he saw the other redhead in the room. "I assume you're the one that burn that warehouse last night"

"Guilty as charged" the phoenix admitted with a grin as he raised his hands defensively. "And who I have the honor of meeting?" he asked.

"Sirzech Lucifer" the men said. "One of the Four Great Satans. And who are you?" he asked trying to impress his sister's guest.

"Velkan Santino. Last phoenix" the boy said, causing that Sirzech's eyes widened by hearing that. "I'm afraid I do not possess any title as Your Highness"

"A phoenix uh?. It's been decades since the last time any devil has seen or talked to one" Sirzech replied, suspicion in his voice.

"Yeah well, if it make you feel better it also been a while since the last time I talked to another of my kind as well" Velkan said with a slight nostalgia. Akeno return to the living room with a silver tray and put it on the tea table. The current Lucifer took his cup and drank his tea.

"Delicious as always. Thank you very much Akeno" he said smiling. "You should try this Velkan". The phoenix nodded and drank from the other cup in the tray, knowing that this will keep the conversation flowing.

"Mmh... I must say, I have tasted a hundreds of teas and this one it's among the best ones in my opinion" Velkan said, making Akeno blush a bit. "Although I highly doubt that Your Highness came here just to share a cup of tea, am I right?" he asked. Sirzech nodded.

"That's right. I've come here to warn you, Rias" he said as he turned to see his sister.

"Me?" she asked in surprise. "About what?"

"About this guy" Sirzech answered while pointing Velkan, who was taking a sip of his tea calmly. "The phoenix are not to be trusted"

"What are you talking brother?. He helped us in taking down Vizer last night" Rias said.

"And do you know how he obtained the info that leaded to that stray?" Sirzech asked. Rias stopped, not knowing what to say back. She herself had been wondering that and turned to look Velkan for answers. After a moment of silence, the phoenix spoke.

"Well, I believe it's time I say something in my defense. Yes, I got that information by means of questionable legality and-"

"You stole it" Sirzech said coldly, making the phoenix flinch at the comment.

"Yeah... you know, "stole" is a strong word. I prefer the term "Extracting valuable information". It make it sound more professional" Velkan said confidently. Akeno looked surprised.

"So you admit you stole those papers?" she asked, who until this point had remained silent. Velkan smirked at this.

"If it makes you feel better my dear, I didn't take anything. I just read it and put it back in its place" was the phoenix's answer, making Akeno sigh in relief.

"That doesn't change the fact that you lied to us" Rias replied a little upset.

"Again, I didn't lie to anyone. I just omitted certain key facts" Velkan said with a serious voice.

"This is what I meant Rias. Long time ago, the phoenix were known for deceive and make deals to get what they wanted. They certainly weren't the most powerful beings but it was clear they were the most clever" Sirzech explained. "I don't know what intentions you have but you better leave this city by this time tomorrow" he warned the phoenix. ' _This isn't working. I think I'll use my wildcard after all' ._ Velkan thought. A few minutes passed before the phoenix could find something that didn't comprimised his bosses and help appease the doubts that the Gremory had about him.

"No need to worry about me. I only have the best intentions towards Rias and her peerage. In fact, I was sent here to ensure your sister's safety" Velkan replied, surprising all the presents in the room.

"Protect us?!" Rias asked, annoyed by the thought that she needed some kind of bodyguard.

"From who?" Akeno asked a little more serious than usual, after all it was her duty as Rias' Queen being informed about possible threats against the group. Sirzech looked carefuly at Velkan and then he spoke.

"More important is... Who sent you?" he asked. "Who thinks my sister is in such danger that send a phoenix to protect her?". A mischievous smirk formed on Velkan's face but quickly dropped.

"For security reasons my duty is to maintain the specific identity of my employers in secret, you'll understand" the phoenix said. "However, I can revela certain details in exchage for a price, of course. And taking into account that I consider Rias as a friend and that you're her brother, the price would be minimun to you". The expression on Sirzech's face darkened a bit again, while Akeno chuckled and Rias smiled at Velkan's comment.

"I knew you try and get something out of this" the current Lucifer sighed. "IF I were willing to accept your offer, what would be the price?" he asked carefuly.

"You see, the nature of my work requires my presence in many places in short time periods. As you can imagine, find transportation is a real maddness" Velkan explained, making Rias remmember the strange petition that the phoenix made her the day before. "However, I'd hear that the devils-"

"Just say your price. I have a meeting with the other Satans and I don't have all night for this!" Sirzech cut off Velkan's rambling. ' _This is it_ ' the phoenix thought. He knew that the curiosity had taken the best of Sirzech, and the Satan was right about something: The phoenix was going to take what he had on hand to get what he wanted.

"The price is your permission to use the Gremory portals" he said calmly. Sirzech didn't saw that coming.

"What?" was all he could say at the moment. "You want our portals?"

"I think I was very clear with my words". Before Sirzech could reply, Rias spoke.

"It's okay brother. We need to know who sent him and who is trying to put us in danger" she said. Sirzech thought it for a second. Giving such power to a phoenix will make him much more dangerous that already is. On the other hand, if someone was threatening his little sister he'll do anything in his power to at least know who or what motivations had... and the person that sent Velkan may know this answers.

"Fine" he finaly said, spreading his hand in front of him and forming a small red sphere made of dark red energy. "Tell me who sent you and you get the portals" the Satan commanded. Velkan let a small chuckle escape and by the time he recovered he noticed that Sirzzech's face didn't change at all.

"I going to assume that you never did a pact with one of my kind before, right?" he said. Sirzech raised an eyebrow and lowered his arm, making the energy dissapear. "Allow me to show you how to do it properly, My Lord" the phoenix said offering a hand to seal the deal. Sirzech completed the handshake and the ashes formed around both arms. Velkan's pupils went from their usual light brown to a bright red. Rias and Akeno had never known about pacts with phoenix before, thus seeing the ashes and Velkan's eyes they couldn't help but be amazed at the sight.

"Now, we both say what we have to offer. I, Velkan Santino, Last Phoenix, offer you the information that will lead you to my employers". The phoenix nodded and Sirzech spoke.

"I, Sirzech Lucifer, Great Satan of Hell, offer you the power to use the portals of House of Gremory"

The ashes suddenly focused on Velkan's left shoulder and on Sirzech's right hand, burning strong enough to carve the circular marks on those places. The handshake was finished and the eyes of the phoenix went back to normal.

"It's done. From now on, until both of us are satisfied by the pact, we'll be bound by my mark" Velkan said. The current Lucifer looked at him confused and Velkan remembered that this was the first time Sirzech make a pact.

"Oh, right" he said and found something on his trench coat. He pulled out a note and give it to Sirzech. "Just read the answers" he whispered.

"Until then, may our souls be absolved if this pact is rightfully honored" the Satan said.

"And may our bodies be burned if this pact if wrongfully done" the phoenix said, sealing the pact. "Now that we did this the right way, it's your turn to pay your part of the deal"

"Right" Sirzech said. The sphere of red energy was formed again in the Satan's arm and aimed directly at Velkan.

"Wow, wow. Are you sure that-" the phoenix was interrupted by the pain of being involved in Sirzech power, who was known amog high-class devils as "The Prince of Destruction". This lasted for a few seconds and then stopped, leaving Velkan in pain.

"There you go, the Gremory portals are now at your disposal" he said coldly. "Now, I expect you have some information for me". But the clubroom's doors suddenly opened, taking all with their guards down. Koneko burst in, desperately looking for Rias.

"They took us by surprise! I had to leave them behind!" the girl said.

"Koneko, calm down" the redhead girl said. "Tell me what happened"

"Koneko are you hurt?" Akeno asked worried, seeing blood stains on her friend's school uniform. Koneko relaxed a bit and shock her head.

"It's not mine" she said. "It's Issei's"

- **City Streets, A few moments ago** -

When he got out of school grounds, Issei was much more motivated to go into the city and get some contracts. Rias had proposed a deal; if he managed to get at least one contract, she will let him do anything he wanted with her breast for ten seconds. It goes without saying that the brown haired boy accepted those terms without second thoughts. Kiba and Koneko had to run to catch up with him when they came out the clubroom.

"Issei, wait!" Kiba said whe they reached him. "Our house is that way, so let us join you for a while"

"Fine, but we need to walk fast for this one. There is so much to win this time" Issei said with a smile as he grabbed his bike. Suddenly he noticed something Kiba just said. "D-did you said "our house"!? Do you guys live togheter!? he asked in shock, debating as to either congratulate Kiba for manage to live with a girl or strangle right there because of envy. The blond chuckled a bit.

"Actually it's a two story house. She lives up stairs and the first floor is mine" he said.

"And none of your neighbors find that stange? A boy and a girl living togheter alone?" Issei asked curiously.

"We told them that we're siblings and our parents are working on Europe" Koneko said. "That way no one suspects anything". The mention of the word "parents" make the girl low her head a little, trying to contain her emotions at bay. This went unnoticed by Issei, who was more focused on the things he'll make first when the Rias' breast were available to him, but Kiba partly knew what was happening in her mind.

"Are you okay Koneko?" the knight asked. The neko girl barely smiled and nodded. That smile was all the blond was going to get and Kiba knew it.

"By the way, do you know who is that guy?" Issei asked when they approached the corner of a building. "Could he be a real phoenix?"

"I don't know. The only phoenix I heard of belong to a powerful family of devils, the House of Phenex. They have many features of the phoenix mentioned in legends, but I have no idea that those were real" Kiba said.

"How about you Koneko? Do you know anything about him?" Issei asked, but the girl remained silent. "Koneko?"

"I don't trust him" she said.

"What are you talking about? He seems a nice guy. I mean, he didn't kill me when he found me, right?" Issei said.

"Well, if Rias says he is fine then I don't have any problem with him" Kiba stated.

After walking for a while, they reached an intersection on the street and Issei got on his bike. Unfortunately for him, his body wasn't producing enough magic to be able to be transported by a portal, thus he was forced to use the old ways and use his bike.

"Alright guys, I'll see you tomorrow" Issei said to his fellow devils.

"Just be careful, Issei. And try to make that deal" Kiba said.

"Good night... perv" Koneko said. Issei nodded and went at full speed towards its target, a few houses ahead. As they watched him go, Kiba's eyes widened as he thought something.

"Oh no! I forgot to give him more invocation flyers" the knight remembered while Koneko looked at him.

"More flyers?" she asked tilting her head.

"Yeah, Rias told me to give him a share of mine so that he had more chance of completing a contract" he explained and began to walk the way Issei went.

"Fine, maybe I should give him part of mine too" she sighed and followed Kiba. "Do you know where is his client?"

"No, but it shouldn't be that hard to find" he said.

 **-Meanwhile, Still a few moments ago-**

"Hello, I'm the devil sent by Lady Gremory" Issei warned once he was inside the client's house. He had been knocking the doorbell but having received no response decided to try his luck opening the door. It was unlocked and he opened. Inside the house was deep dark and only one of the rooms in the back seemed to have some kind of ilumination.

"Is someone home?" he asked. It looked like nobody was home right now and Issei was tempted to leave when a sense of danger through his body until a thought came to mind. ' _Rias' breast are not theonly ones at stake, I get the feeling that I'll dissapoint her if I don't finish this pact. At least I need to be sure nobody is home before I get back_ '. He went to the iluminated room and opened the door. The light was coming from the candles placed on some small furniture but it wasn't enough to see the whole room.

' _Candles? Who uses candles anymore?_ ' he thought. He keept moving until noticing that the floor was a bit wet. "Damn! Why the floor is wet?" he said, but upon closer inspection he noticed his shoe covered with a red thick liquid. "B-blood?! Is this blood?!"

When he followed the trail he saw a dead person in a small pool of blood. Issei wasn't a genious, but it didn't take one to know that nobody could survive that kind of blood loss. "Is he dead?!"

"So you're finally here" someone said from behind the corpse. "Freed Sellzan, at your service. And you must be the shitty little devil this guy summoned". Issei looked and saw a men about his age, with white hair and dark red eyes; he was wearing white long-sleeve shirt and withe pants, a dark blue jacket with golden buttons and a pair of black shoes.

"Did you killed him? Why?" Issei asked.

"Because he summoned you. And those who make deals with devils are just as pathetic as them. And my job is exocise them" the guy said. Issei was confused.

"Exorcise them? What... are you a priest?" he asked with a bit of fear.

"Indeed. And I like a looot my job" he said as he pulled out a gun and a sword that seemed to be made of light from his jacket. "Now, I can't wait to make a big hole throught you damn face. How does that sound uh?!". With that, Freed pounced on Issei intending to use his blade to cut his arm off. Luckly, the newborn devil was fast enought to dodge the attack, but he couldn't avoid the priest shoot him on the leg.

"AGHHH!"

"To slow, little shitty devil" he said. "And now I-"

"KYAAA!"

Issei was on pain. Being hit by a bullet infused with holy power had that effect on devils. But he thought he recognized that voice from before, and when he looked up his eyes widened.

"A-Asia?" he said. The nun was horrified because of the sight of the dead man who had summoned Issei and was surprised by seeing the brown haired boy in that room.

"Issei? What are you doing here?" she asked.

"What is going on here? Do you two know each other?" Freed asked, who was starting to loose patience.

"Asia, I'm sorry I didn't tell you this before... I'm a devil. And that's why I'm not allowed to see you again" Issei said regret in his voice. Asia was still trying to understand what was going on when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her left cheek. She looked and saw Freed, angry at her as she had never seeing before.

"So you like to make friends with little shitty devils like him uh?" the priest said. "Maybe you got it all wrong my dear. Yo see, you are supposed to figth and kill shits like him. Not to make friends with them!" he yelled at the nun, who fell to the floor in tears.

"Shut up you freak!" Issei said. It goes wothout saying the boy was infuriated at him for hitting Asia and tryied to use his Sacred Gear but the wound on his leg took precedence over fighting in Draig's mind. ' _Come on partner, you can't deal with this exorcist right now_ '.

"Aww, the little devil is mad?" Freed said in a mocking tone as he raised his sword. "Then I'll let my sword say "I don't care" to your head!" he said as he pounced once again against Issei.

CLANK!

And just as the light blade was about to touch Issei's face, another blade blocked the attack.

"It seems that the deal didn't go well, right?" a voice Issei recognized said.

"Kiba!" he said in relief.

"Oh come on, who the hell are you?!" Freed said, not expecting another devil in the area.

"None of your concern" said Koneko from the other side of the room, and threw a tea table at the priest. Freed was fast enough to avoid it with a jump and landed at the other corner of the room.

"So you scumbags come in packs? Is that it?" he asked. "It's alright. My _fallen_ companions are coming this way anyways, if you know what I mean he he". Kiba face darkened a bit and knew what he had to do in order to protect his two friends.

"Koneko, go back to Rias and make sure she knows what's happening here. I'll stay and fight him" the knight said. Koneko knew that he was very good fighter with a sword, but this priest had a gun as well. No matter how good you are with swords, it's almost impossible to delfect bullets from firearms. Even for Kiba.

"I can fight as well. I can-"

"Issei can't stand up and I'm the only one who can fight this priest" Kiba reasoned with her. "Just go. We'll be fine" he said with a smile. Koneko nodded and went for Issei first.

"Are you done with your little shit chat? I starting to get bored" Freed said as he yawned a bit.

"You don't need to worry about them. Right now, I'm your only enemy." Kiba said, rage storing inside him. Freed laughed at that. "Alright pretty boy, show me what you can do". And then their fight began.

"How bad is it?" Koneko asked Issei as the sound of steel against steel filled the large room.

"I'll be fine. Just hurry back to the president" the boy said. She ripped a few curtains nearby and made bandages to attach them to Issei, staining her uniform in the process.

"I'll be back as soon as I can. Just don't die just yet, I don't think Rias will be pleased by that" she said, knowing that Issei will make respond to that comment. With that the girl ran back to the school, hoping that the others were still in the clubroom... and hoping that the phoenix had already left for good.

 **-Present time-**

"What are you talking about?! Where are the others?!" Rias asked in shock. Sirzech sighed and smiled seeing his little sister worried by the well being of her servants. He looked at Velkan and he thought he rocognized a trace of concern in the phoenix's face.

"You should go with them Velkan. After all, you're here to protect them, right?". he said.

"Thank you, Your Highness. I'll be sure to fullfill my part of our little agreement at a later date". Velkan nodded gratefuly.

"I'll make sure you do so". Then he turned to Rias. "I see you have bussines to attend sister. Just be careful, ok?" the current Lucifer said.

"Of course brother. Akeno, set the portal" Rias said. As the portal was being formed, Koneko was dissapointed since not only Velkan wasn't gone but also was going with them to help rescue Issei and Kiba, or so he said. Her breathing accelerated a bit, as result of the fear the phoenix inspired her. On the other hand, Velkan wasn't sure why, but there was something on Koneko that was familiar to him. He couldn't say that he know her, but he was sure he had seen her before. Somewhere.

"Where are they Koneko?" Akeno asked, pulling the girl out of her thoughts.

"On a residence, in the south sector. It was Issei's client for tonight" Koneko answered with her usual tone. Akeno nodded and focused her magic on the portal. A few seconds after they were gone, leaving Sirzech all alone in the clubroom.

"I hope I made the right thing" he told to himself. He could wait a bit longer before get any information from that phoenix. His sister's servants may have not that long.

In a red flash the group appeared in the middle of the room where the priest and the knight were fighting. Freed didn't appeared to be scared for the sudden increasing in the number of devils. Kiba on the other hand was relieved to see some friendly faces.

"Glad to see you here guys" he said.

"Oh, this is gross" Akeno whined as the portal faded away. Rias looked around and saw Issei with a gunshot on his legs and she felt rage accumulate inside her. ' _He will pay for this_ ' she thought.

"Yeah, usually the smell of corpses causes that sensation" Velkan said.

"Oh, so the whole squad is here. How exicitng! I get to kill more devils!" Freed said exicet for the turn of events.

"My my, you truly are a piece of work aren't you?" Akeno said with a smile, amused by the words of the priest.

"And you my dear are a hot devil bitch you knew that?!" Freed replied back.

"For a piest that quite the mouth you have there. Don't you know how to properly treat a lady?" the phoenix said making Akeno blush a little and Freed to laugh maniacally.

"And you suppose that you, a devil, are going to teach me some manners?" he said. Velkan smirked at that statement. "You know how ironic is that?!"

"Oh, but I'm no devil my friend. I'm something much worse that they are" he said. ' _It's a shame I can't burn down this place_ '

"Aww, are you mad at me? The let me show yo- ARGHH!" he was cut off by a small sphere of dark red energy that hit him in the stomach. Both Velkan and Akeno turned and saw Rias covered in a red aura.

"Nobody hurts my servants!" she said. Freed was scared for the first time since he came to the house.

"Damn, that could be a problem" he said, but then he heared a sound form outside and a twisted smirk came to his face. "Luckly for me, my backup have arrived just in time!" he said, making the others realized what was happening.

"Fallens. Around the house!" Koneko said who, being a nekomata, was the one with better hearing in the Gremory team. Rias stood there for a few seconds trying to evaluate their options and then glanced to Akeno. The queen understood and formed a portal to get everyone out of there and back to the clubroom. Well, almost everyone.

"Well, well. Despite I'd like to stay here and watch my companions slash you in tiny pieces, my boss needs me elsewhere. You're all screwed now!" he said as he run to the door, leaving Asia behind. The nun just looked in shock, not from fear but because of astonishment. She had been taught that devils were evil and twisted creatures who only cared about themselves. But what she had just seen was a group of people who cared to save his friend from Father Freed.

"Let's get out of here before the fallens come in" she ordered. Everyone in her peerage went near Akeno and Issei noted someone was missing.

"Wait, what about Asia?" he asked.

"I'm sorry Issei, but only members of my household can get through our portals" she explained. Velkan was curious about that remark.

"You mean I'm a member of House of Gremory now?" the phoenix asked. Akeno giggled a little. "I'll explain you later" she said. Rias nodded to her queen and turned to Issei again.

"Come Issei. There is nothing we can do for her" Rias said. Issei was about to say something but Asia spoke first.

"It's okay Issei. I'll see you again soon" she said with tears in her eyes. The boy couldn't resist seeing her sad and went to her, intending to bring her along with them, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Even if you bring her near us she won't make it through the portal" Koneko said, knowing the boy's intentions.

"Go Issei, please" Asia said with pleading eyes. The portal turned bright red, meaning that they won't be in that place for long. Only one thought crossed Issei's mind; the sight of Asia being punished by that Freed guy because she had befriended a devil. And he was not goin to be able to save her. As the portal grew in brightness he yelled

"I'll save you. Just hold on!"

 **-ORC Clubroom, Nighttime**

"We need to go back! We have to get Asia out of there!" Issei said to the group. Rias sighed and tried to explain again to the boy why they couldn't do it.

"Issei, she is the enemy. She is working with the fallens just as that rogue priest. I feel sorry for her because of the way she's been treated but that's not reason enough to break into enemy territory to save her" she said. Issei was going to reply, but he knew that was her final thoughts on the matter. Akeno and Kiba were curious about Velkan's actions back there.

"Why didn't you burn that psycho priest?" Kiba asked Velkan.

"Well, unlike the abandoned warehouse this was a residential zone. I just couldn't risk to burn those houses" the phoenix said.

"Yeah, you're right. Besides, I think we'll see that priest again sooner or later" Akeno replied.

"Good job everybody. I'm glad to see everyone is fine" Rias announced getting the group's attention. "You can go home now. I'll see you tomorrow"

"Actually" Velkan said. "I won't be here tomorrow".

"Why not?" Kiba asked

"I have bussiness to attend in another place" Velkan answered quickly.

"Is that so?" Rias asked suspiciously

"Well.. umm... yeah, you could say it's bussiness" Velkan said with a smile. He noted Akeno had lowered her head a bit. "Don't worry, I'll be back in a few days. After all I have to keep you all safe, right?"

"I hold you to that" Akeno said smiling making Velkan nodd. Once they were out of the building something was off with Velkan. He couldn't get Asia out of his mind for some reason and something lead him to do his next move.

"Hey Issei" he called out. The boy turned to see the phoenix approached him.

"Oh, hey. What's up?" Issei asked. He was still upset from before but had recovered a bit. The phoenix looked around to make sure that noone could hear them.

"Don't worry, we'll save Asia when I get back" he said. Issei was surprised by the sudden change of mind but glad to see that at least someone wanted to rescue the nun.

"O-okay, but what do I do until you come back?" Issei asked.

"Train yourself. We may encounter some fallen angels and you could use some training using your Sacred Gear" Velkan explained. "Just don't tell the others. Rias may not take it very well"

"Ok, thank you. I won't say anything" Issei said, with his hopes in high.

"I know you won't" Velkan said and went on his way. "Take care Issei"

"Yeah, you too" the boy said. The phoenix was going to his hotel, but remembered that he had to do something first.

' _Oh right, I need to tell him how was the meeting_ '

 **-Somewhere in the city, Midnight-**

Velkan went to where he knew he could find his friend and colleague. The crossroads had a special meaning to Nick's kind, although Velkan wasn't sure why was that. The relevant thing was that he needed to be in a crossroad, he had to draw a sigil on the ground and had to say the right words to make him show up.

"Te nunc invoco, filius mortem. Te in mea potestate defixi. Nunc et in aeternum!" he said firmly and waited for a few minutes before he felt a presence behind him.

"Twice in a day! This must be importat" the voice said. Velkan turned to see his friend.

"I don't know if this is relevant to my assignment just yet, Nick. But I'll need to arrange a rescue mission" he said. Nick lifted an eyebrow.

"Rescue mission? Some of your targets was caught by the fallens?" the black haired boy asked curiously. The phoenix shock his head.

"Well, not THEM exactly. But someone that may make things easy for me in the future with the Gremory."

"Yeah, right. You never liked easy assignments. How about you start telling me the truth and I MAY help you out with this _rescue_ mission" Nick said a little upset. After all this decades of knowing each other Velkan seemed to not entirely trust anyone buy himself. Nick didn't care the least about that, but it upset him that the phoenix thought he was fool enough to not know he was lying. Velkan sighed at that.

"Fine. This girl, Asia, it's no use for me, and it doesn't help me with the Gremory at all" he said with a nostalgic tone. "But she remembered me of someone very importat to me".

"She has been out there for years now. You have to let her go men" Nick said. He knew who the phoenix was talking about but she went off Velkan's radar since at least 7 years now. "I mean, she wanted to be more self-dependent"

"I know" Velkan said. "If you could take a look and see where is she, or at least tell me if she is safe I'll own you a favor"

"I'll do what I can. But you already own me 3" Nick said with a smile putting three fingers on his hand. The phoenix regained his humor and sighed in relief.

"That'll do. Well I'll be leaving now. See you in a few days" he said and turned to leave but stopped when he heard Nick.

"I'll locate this Asia girl and device some rescue plan by the time you come back" he said. Velkan was about to say thanks but when he turned back Nick had already vanished. The phoenix grinned and went to Morning Star Hotel to practise with his newest hability.

* * *

 **Well that's all for today. As you can see, there will be a lot of Supernatural references in this story. Don't forget to review and feel free to PM me if you have a question or idea about the story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, see you next time and as always... have a good day :)**


	7. First big news!

**Hello amigos and welcome back to another entry in Velkan's Journal: Burning Cold. You know, I almost lost all motivation to keep this story up... or to write at all. I don't know why; maybe I haven't received any reviews since chapter three, and I think my story sucks so much that anybody want to leave a review... I don't really know. But then I thought to my self 'Why on earth should I care about that?'. I believe it was Stephen King who said "The stories that writers make are not meant to please the public, but to the writers themselves".**

 **So here I am, and after that melodramatic pause here is Chapter 7. Enjoy!. And don't worry, I'll finish Velkan's story till the very end, which trust me, you still haven't heard anything ;)**

* * *

 _"Two powerful entities had tasked me to protect these group of students and in order to do so I had to hide them my intentions. "Ignorance will keep them alive" Lord Death said. "If they find out, they will never accomplish their fate" Lady Destiny said. Perhaps hide them the truth for a while was a good idea after all... Sorry about that, but I had to write that down... Anyway, werewolves... I can't say that I get along with them, especially after I burned down the lair of one of their clans_ _a few years ago. Clan that, as Time would tell, turned out to be the one from which the current Alpha of the werewolves was chosen. Yeah, I know, even if it's hard to believe I do have accidents from time to time ok?!. I seriously doubt that until now they have forgiven me for that little incident._

 _Anyways, now that I mentioned them maybe it's time for me to tell the differences between Alphas and Dark Lords. You see, in the monster realm each kind chooses a leader that rules over every member of that species; and the Dark Lords are chosen among the High Councils of every kind to rule over the whole monster realm. In this case, the werewolf Alpha, Lady Selina Gardner, is currently one of them. For better or worse, one of her nephews was in Yokai Academy at the same time that Tsukune and the others. Speaking of them, when I saw them again they surprised me, as they would continue to do so in several occasions in the future. They surprised me because of the fast that Kurumu integrated in their group, considering what happened a few days before._

 _Oh, and now at last I know what the hell was Joseph's kind. I must say I didn't expect to see one of them so far from their territory, but I suppose he has his reasons"_

 **-Class 1-C Homeroom, Noon-**

Miss Nekonome's class could become interesting if you pay enough attention. Of course, that was if the fish and the different ways of preparing food with them were your greatest passion, as was the case with the young teacher in charge of both Class 1-C and the Newspaper Club. By the third day, all students in the class learned that it was better to pretend to pay attention and pray that class over soon. And certain group of friends was no different, each of them deep in thought. Tsukune still couldn't believe that monsters were real and the fact he was in a school for monsters only didn't help, but was grateful for learning that they were not as scary or wild as legends say. Behind the human boy, Moka thought about the enormous change that she was going through, because in the time she spend in human schools was ignored by her classmates because they saw it as a weird, and here she was treated as one more and even admired for being the daughter of a Dark Lord. Sitting next to Tsukune, Joseph pondered about the fact of having a human by friend and regretted not being able to see his sister and tell her that, in the end, she was always right. Behind the blond, Kurumu focused her thoughts on a new way to attract and know the identity of her Destined One, but these last days that goal was going to a second place, because she also wanted to spend some time with her new friends.

"And that's why golden fish has better taste that tuna" Miss Nekonome explained, getting everybody's attention. "If you had any questions you-" she said before being interrupted by the ring bell. "Oh, well. Don't forget to read chapter 5 for next class. Meow!"

"That'll be helpful if I ever cook fish, although personally I prefer the steaks" Joseph said casually.

"You cook?!" Kurumu asked a bit surprised.

"I didn't knew you can cook, Joseph" Moka said.

"Yeah... my mom insisted on that if I was to live on my own here" the blond replied.

"My mother tried to teach me too, but I think I'm not that good" Tsukune said and chuckled a bit. As they talked and were about to head to the school cafeteria, Miss Nekonome approached them with a smile.

"Before you go I need to take you to the clubroom so you know the rest of the members" she said cheerfully. The four students nodded and began to follow her through the hallways of Yokai until they reached their destination. The classroom was in the second floor and it had a big plastic table in it's center, probably used to work on the newspaper. When they entered they were surprised to find it empty.

"Excuse me, are we the only ones in this club?" Tsukune asked, afraid to know the answer. The teacher chuckled a bit.

"Of course no. There is still one more member" she answered. A moment later someone knocked on the door of the clubroom and a student slightly higher than Tsukune entered; he had the uniform of the Yokai Academy, but he used it in a more casual way without the tie and the top button of his shirt unbuttoned. He wore a red band that held his black hair and wore a silver necklace with a crescent moon. But its most distinctive feature was the two red roses in his hand.

"I'm sorry to be late. It's just that I couldn't find flowers that matched with your beauty" he said as he gave one rose to Moka and the other to Kurumu, whom didn't knew what to say.

"Gin, I'm glad you made it. I need to attend a staff meeting now" the teacher said as she leave the clubroom. "Can you take it from here?"

"Of course Miss Nekonome. I'll tell them the basics of the newspaper club" he said. When the teacher was gone the student introduced himself. "My name is Ginei Morioka, but you can call me Gin. Now listen, the Newspaper Club has the mission of investigate the most relevant news that happen on the school during the week, work hard on it's edition to make it easy to read, adjusting it in a format I have prepared to print it and deliver the newspaper to every student in the school gates every Tuesday. To achieve that you'll need to work hard and put all your effort in this, which may include stay up late to finish an article or go out to make some interviews. So if you don't have the guts to be in this club, now it's the time to leave".

"This guy seems to take his job seriously" Joseph whispered to Tsukune.

"It seems that this club ran out members by this guy push them too hard" the human boy answered.

After a few moments in silence Gin began to laugh. "Come on, I was joking. Mostly we'll just be hanging out here after class and see what we can add to the newspaper, but you'll have fun here"

"So are we really the only members in this club?" Moka asked.

"That's right. Now, the first thing we're going to-" Gin said before being interrupted by a redheaded boy that wear a dark trench coat. A silver chain hanged out of one of it's pockets and Kurumu seemed to recognize him.

"Excuse me, is this Newspaper Club?" he asked. "Well, well. It seems that you two DO got along the past few days". he said a bit surprised after seeing the vampire and the succubus in the same room.

 **-Somewhere in the Academy Forest, A few moments ago-**

"Damn portals!" Velkan yelled in frustration. "It seems that I still have to dominate this magic". The portal that brought him had appeared in the forest surrounding Yokai Academy and unfortunately he was already late for the first "class". Still he couldn't believe that the headmaster had made him reenter as a student, but he was willing to play along just to be close to Moka and the others.

"I'd better go to the principal. I'll let him know that I'll be staying a few days" he told himself as he began walking, but then stopped. ' _Now that I think about it, I could just fly to his office. After all I'm just another freshman that didn't knew that showing my true form was forbidden in school grounds, right?_ ' he thought as he spread his orange wings and took flight over the forest. Some students looked amazed when they saw in the sky an orange glow fly over them, they did not know what kind of monster could be doing that. Velkan grinned seeing some of the expressions on their faces. ' _They're too young. Probably none of them has seen anyone like me before_ '. He landed on the balcony of the headmaster's office, who was sitting at his desk going through some papers.

"So, are you done with your business in the human world?" he asked without looking up. The phoenix came in and retracted his wings which, like Kurumu's wings, could pass right through the clothes without tearing it.

"Not yet, I'm still waiting a few things to set up" Velkan answered as he remembered his conversation with Nick. "But I have some time to spare and decided to pay you and the guys a visit" he said regaining his mood. A smirk formed beneath the headmaster's glowing eyes.

"Of course you do. Well, you came just in time to join a school club" Mikogami said.

"Oh come on! I only agreed to be a student again. Join a club was not part of our deal, and you know it" Velkan snapped.

"You agreed to be a student again, which implies perform all activities that are expected of a student, including being part of a club. Now, I understand that there are some clubs that are at risk of disappearing due to lack of members such as the Photography Club, Kendo Club... Newspaper Club" the headmaster replied. The phoenix remained silent, partly because he was still unconvinced about the idea of joining a club and partly for not being able to believe that the headmaster beat him in his own pact. The phoenix usually got the best part of its deals and Velkan was not used to losing.

"Fine, I guess I'll join one. But that doesn't mean I'll be attending every meeting, is that clear?" he finally said.

"That will be entirely you choice, my friend" Mikogami replied. Velkan nodded and left the office.

As he walked through the hallways he went through his options. ' _I can't avoid it so let's see... I never been good with cameras, and doesn't make much sense to join the kendo club if we're going to pretend fights with wooden swords... I'm not too interested in Newspaper Club neither, but it seems it's the one where I won't have to work that hard_ ' he thought. After he asked the location of the newspaper clubroom to some students he went to second floor. Before he reached the room, he heard a few girls by chance.

"Are you two sure that someone saw you while you got changed?" one asked to her friends.

"I couldn't saw him, it was dark when we left the gymnasium. But I felt like I was being watched" another replied.

"I saw him! He was really fast, but I know I saw a silver shine in his neck. Maybe he was using a necklace or something" the third one talked. Velkan couldn't help but roll his eyes and snickered hearing the conversation. ' _I guess boys will always be boys. Some things never change I guess_ '. When he reached the clubroom he found a student with long hair held up by a red headband wearing the school uniform.

"Excuse me, is this the Newspaper Club?" he asked. However, when he came in the clubroom he grinned lightly. ' _Mikogami, you have a strange sense of humor you knew that?_ ' he thought. "Well, well. It seems that you two DO got along the past few days" he asked referring to Moka and Kurumu.

 **-Newspaper Club's classroom, Present Time-**

After a moment of silence, Velkan spoke again. "Oh, right. Where are my manners, perhaps it'll be better if I introduce myself, formally this time. My name is Velkan Santino"

"I'm Kurumu Kurono" the succubus said. A few days ago, despite the fact that she was crying because of Moka's threat of ripping her wings and tail, she thought she recognized his voice. ' _I need her... alive_ ' she remembered the words of the stranger. Velkan's voice was pretty much the same, but she wasn't sure.

"My name is Tsukune Aono. Nice to meet you" the human said a little nervous. "You're the one that stopped Inner Moka, right?". Tsukune clearly remembered him, and so the fact that even the other Moka was a little afraid of him.

"Well, I couldn't let two girls fight with each other you know? the phoenix asked. "Especially when one of them was going to rip off her wings and tail" he said pointing at Kurumu. Then he turned to see Joseph. "By the way, I'm glad that you recovered consciousness"

"The name is Joseph. Joseph Hawk" the blond said, not knowing who was this guy that seemed to know everyone else. "Who are yo again?"

"I told you there was someone else that day" the succubus replied. Velkan laughed a bit.

"She'd threw you to the tree line and you must hit one. That's why you don't remember me" he reasoned. Kurumu glanced at him questioningly.

"How'd you know that?" she asked. "Were you spying on us?"

"Wh- No! I saw your little rampage and went to see what was happening. By the time I came he was already knocked out" the phoenix replied. ' _That was close. I should be more careful. These kids seem smart enough_ ' he thought. Velkan turned to see the only member who hadn't greeted yet but he found Moka's mind in other place. And the gem in her rosario was blinking. "That's a pretty gem" he said getting the vampire's attention.

"Oh, i-it's nothing. Umm, my name is Moka Akashiya. I hope you like this place" she said with a smile. The phoenix couldn't help but think that something was off with her but decided to pay it no mind for now. Then he turned to the student in front of them.

"And I'm guessing you are the club leader, right?" he asked.

"That's right, I'm Ginei Morioka, but everyone here calls me Gin" he said. "Did they told you to join this club?" he asked

"Yeah, the headmaster said I could join here since they were low on members" Velkan replied.

"Well, if he approves it... Then we can start working" Gin announced and the group sat in front of the table.

"We're going to need a story to publish by next Tuesday, so if anyone have something don't forget to make some interviews and we'll check it out in a few days" he explained. "But before that, we're going to set this place up to work properly". And so their activities began, as everyone was thinking in what would be cool or interesting enough to write it down.

 **-Newspaper Club's classroom, Evening-**

Most of those activities were about accommodate some boxes, which the boys were taking care of; put some posters on the wall, which the girls were taking care of; and the most complicated job on the clubroom, consisting on making sure that everyone else were doing their jobs the right way... which Gin was doing perfectly fine, monitoring Kurumu and Moka with special interest.

"What is he doing?" Tsukune told to himself when he saw Gin tilt his head and went to see what's going on.

"What was that?" Joseph asked. Velkan listened and turned to see the club leader. It was obvious that he was trying to catch a glimpse of the girls' underwear. ' _Well, it's not like their lives are at risk. I'll let this one pass_ ' he thought and went back to the boxes in front of him. Joseph was about to follow his friend before a hand on his shoulder stopped.

"Wait a sec Joseph. I think this may get interesting" the phoenix said, making the blonde look at him confused.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Just wait and look" Velkan answered as he pointed the other club members. Tsukune was next to the club leader and tilted his head the same way. The human was speechless.

"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING GIN?!" the human yelled, getting everyone's attention. Gin chuckled and glanced at Tsukune.

"What are you talking about?" he asked casually.

"You're totally looking their underwear!" Tsukune said. The girls heard their friend yell but didn't understood a word.

"Is everything alright?" Moka asked.

"Yeah, what's with you Tsukune?" Kurumu asked. Gin grinned as an idea came to his mind.

"Well, I think that Tsukune here was peeping on you two" he said pointing the human.

"WHAT?!" the girls yelled in unison.

"T-that's not true! I mean, I did look, but that was only after-"

SLAP! SLAP!

Both girls slapped him before he could speak any further. Gin couldn't help a small laugh, Joseph noticed it and seemed weird to him. Tsukune tried to apologize but it was in vain and they stormed out of the clubroom. Moka went to her dorm a little sad by knowing that Tsukune was a perv, and Kurumu, who was a bit upset, went to the cafeteria to get some lunch. The human went after Moka to explain what really happened and disappeared from the remaining members' sight.

"Well guys, I guess that's the end of this meeting. I'll see you tomorrow" he said goodbye with a sigh. Velkan was about to leave, for he wasn't interested in stay and move some boxes around, when he saw the blond and a smirk formed in his face.

"Didn't I told you that this would be interesting?" he said amusingly.

"It's not that. I think we have our story for the newspaper" Joseph replied catching Velkan's curiosity.

"Oh, and what may that be?" the phoenix asked.

"You saw what I saw right?"

"You mean Gin peeping on the girls and tricking Tsukune to make it look like he did it?" Velkan asked. "Yeah, I think I notice that"

"Exactly. We need to get Kurumu for this one" the blond said.

"Kurumu? You think she'll help us?" the phoenix asked.

"Once we tell her what really happened, yeah of course she will... maybe... I hope so" Joseph said, less and less excited each time. With that, the duo went to the cafeteria to try and convince the succubus into Joseph's plan.

 **-School Cafeteria; Evening-**

By that time of the day the school cafeteria was almost reaching its full capacity. The students that weren't in their dorms, exploring the Academy Forest or stuck with club activities were having lunch and when Velkan and Joseph arrived they found a big commotion caused by a group of students around a table near a window.

"What's with that?" the phoenix asked pointing the table. Joseph took a look at it and when he noticed everyone in that group were male students he sighed.

"Yeah, I found her" he said in a dull way. They tried to get through the rest of the boys but it was in vain.

"I don't think this is working" Velkan said.

"Kurumu! Get out of there, we need to talk!" Joseph yelled.

"Okay, I'll be there in a minute!" Kurumu yelled back.

"We'll be in the next table" Velkan said out loud and went to sit. The succubus was trying really hard to find her Destined One but she had no luck so far.

"Alright boys, I need to go. See you all in a while" she said in a seductive way. The horde of guys let out a "Aww" in response but in the end they stepped aside to let their idol pass, grunting and sending death stares to the boys who make Kurumu left them. Velkan and Joseph didn't seem to mind them and the guys left the cafeteria. Kurumu meet with them at the next table, sitting next to the blond.

"No luck with you Destined One?" Joseph asked.

"No... this batch of boys was worthless too..." she sighed.

"You know, I meet a few succubi before and I don't believe this is the right way to find your mate of fate" Velkan said casually getting Kurumu's attention.

"Then... what should I do?" she asked intrigued.

"I don't know. Be creative I guess" the phoenix replied. She hadn't thought that before. Could it be that seduce random guys wasn't enough?. Her mother had told her that this was the fastest way to meet with her Destined One but she never talked about her father, so maybe it was the fastest but not the safest way. Seeing the girl lost in thought, Velkan keep talking. "But don't listen to me, it was just an idea. We're here to discuss another matter with you"

"That's right, I think we have a story for the newspaper" Joseph announced and leaned to make sure nobody else was listening to them. "We believe Gin is the perv. He was the one who peeped on you two and make it look like Tsukune did it"

"WHAT?! I'M GONNA KILL THAT GUY!" Kurumu yelled, getting the attention of nearly students. "If you knew it why didn't you said anything?"

"Not so loud!" Joseph said trying to calm her. "And don't look at me, he was the one who stopped me" he said pointing the phoenix, making the girl look at Velkan waiting for an answer.

"That's not important right now. What matters is what we can do with that information, my friends" the redhead explained. "When I got here this morning I heard a few girls saying that someone saw them while they were in the changing room after gym class. Have you heard anything about that?"

"Well, there is a rumor going on the Swimming Club" she said after thinking for a while. "They say there is some perv around the pool because they hear a camera click every now and then". Joseph glanced at her.

"Do you still talk to the Swimming Club girls?" he asked curiously.

"What? Maybe my Destined One would like me in swimsuit when he finds me" she replied. "Besides, it's not like I was the one that beaten her the most" she said referring to Moka, but also remembered the strange cold wave that came from the blond. ' _Oh yeah, I should ask him about that_ '

"Maybe you're right" Joseph said lost in thought, taking Kurumu by surprise. ' _Maybe later_ ' she thought with a smile.

"What? About my swimsuit?" she asked seductively, teasing her friend.

"Yeah-No! Not that... I just remembered a few girls on our homeroom whining about a peeper" he explained.

"Well before you two get more 'friendly' here" Velkan said making Joseph face-palm and Kurumu chuckle a bit. "I suggest we split up and see what we can find out. We can meet in the clubroom tomorrow night"

"Alright" Joseph replied. Besides avoiding any awkward moment with Kurumu, he was very excited about making research for the Newspaper Club for some reason. He was about going to talk to the girls he spoke of when he recall a small detail. "Umm... should we tell Moka or Tsukune about this?"

"Of course we should. Moka needs to know Tsukune isn't the perv!" Kurumu said. Now that she had someone to call "real friends" she didn't want to see any problems among them.

"No..." Velkan said getting strange looks from the other two. "It may sound cruel and I know I have no right because you just meet me, but we could take advantage of Tsukune's bad luck to prove that Gin is the perv" the phoenix explained. "We just need to follow him and sooner or later he'll make a mistake"

"I don't feel comfortable with this" Kurumu replied.

"Me neither, but the sooner we expose Gin the sooner Moka will forgive Tsukune" the blond reasoned trying to convince his friend. After a while she give them an answer.

"Fine, let's get this over with" she said. Velkan smiled seeing them. Although he didn't knew them that well it remained him a similar situation that took place in that same spot, many years ago. Back in the day, the phoenix was in the Academy for a few weeks and had make some friends. Their names? Issa Shuzen, Ageha Kurono, Kenji Morioka and Rose Hawk. ' _Some things never change indeed. They're just like his parents_ ' he mused.

 **-School Warehouse; The Next Day, Noon-**

The small investigation team had been busy; Joseph went to interview the girls he spoke of while Velkan was nowhere to be seen when their meeting was over. Kurumu was the only one who didn't know what to add to the investigation. ' _How am I supposed to find something? The only thing I knew of was what those mermaid girls told me_ ' she thought. It was lunch break and she decided to wander around school. As she was trying to think something she could work on she saw Gin going around the corner of the main building, moving some trash cans towards the rear of the school. ' _What are you doing?_ ' she thought. Despite the fact that she wanted to beat the crap out of him she decided it was better to follow him and see what he was up to. The succubus hid behind the corner and got surprised when she saw Gin leaving the trash cans and walk towards Tsukune, who was heading to the cafeteria to eat something. ' _Tsukune? What do you want with him?_ '

"Tsukune! You think you can help me out with something?" Gin asked gently. Tsukune wasn't in the mood for helping anyone. In fact, he wasn't in the mood for anything, for since the day before Moka didn't talk to him at all and he was sad about that. ' _Maybe this is what I need to distract my mind a bit_ ' the human thought.

"Sure, what do you need?" he asked.

"I just want to make sure of something" Gin replied as they headed to where he moved the trash cans, followed closely by Kurumu. "Are you okay? You look like a zombie" Gin asked curiously.

"It's Moka. She hasn't speak to me since yesterday" he replied.

"Really? But you still have Kurumu right?"

"What do you mean?

"Oh don't play innocent with me Tsukune. You have two hot girls to pick from and you're telling me that you're interested in the one who's not talking to you? You are strange my friend" Gin mused.

"It's not like that. Kurumu is my friend and all, but..." Tsukune said.

"But?" Gin asked curiously. From a near corner, Kurumu was expecting an answer as well. ' _Yeah, but?!_ ' she thought.

"Well, you didn't hear it from me but I think she and Joseph..." the human said much to Gin's surprise. ' _That's so not true! He's definitely not my Destined One. Oh no... if he's talking about it, maybe all school will start talking and... We need to get what we can on the peeper fast so I may dismiss this rumors on the newspaper next Tuesday! I'm a genius!_ ' the succubus thought much to her relief.

"The blond guy?" Gin snickered. "I never thought she could fell for an american!". They kept talking for a while until they reached to what it seemed the rear of some storehouse. There wasn't any doors but there was a small window and a few trash cans by the wall. "I don't mean to take up too much time from you so I'll be quick. I'm gonna move some of the boxes left on the clubroom. I just need you to take a look inside and tell me if there is enough space for the boxes."

"Why don't we go in by the door?" the human asked. Gin was ready for that question.

"You see I forgot the keys and I wouldn't want to bother a teacher for that. Besides, if the boxes don't fit in it would be a waste of time for all of us" he replied.

"Well, that makes sense" Tsukune said and began to climb the trash cans.

"You know, Moka and I would make a nice couple, like Kurumu and Joseph" Gin said as Tsukune took a look inside the room. "And I'll do everything I can to see that happen"

"What do you-" Tsukune said before hearing a few laughs coming from the inside. He blushed when he saw the girls from the gym class as they were getting changed to their regular classes. "T-this is the changing room!"

CLICK!

"Nobody like pervs, you know?" Gin said seeing the picture he just took, which showed the human peeping the girls inside. "I wonder what Moka would think if she see this picture" he said as he chuckled and walked away.

"Hey, I think I heard something. Like the sound of a camera" a voice inside said.

"Let's check outside" another replied. ' _Oh no!_ ' he thought and began to climb down from the trash cans quickly.

"There it is! Let's get him!" a girl said when they saw Tsukune ran away from there. Unfortunately for him, this was one of those situations where being a human in a school full of monsters was more of an disadvantage and the girls catch him soon enough. They began to beat him and as they did it Moka was passing by.

"Take that! How do you like that you perv?!" one of the girls said.

"Perv?" Moka asked a bit sad. "Tsukune is the peeper?". The human saw she was there but before he could get her attention the vampire ran away from there with tears in her eyes.

"Moka..." Tsukune sighed.

"Stop! He's not the perv!" a familiar voice spoke.

"Kurumu?" Tsukune said confused but relieved to hear that.

"What are you talking about? We saw him!" one of the girls said.

"No, you didn't. He was tricked by the real peeper" Kurumu replied. "We are with the Newspaper Club and we'll discover the real perv" she promised the girls, who now looked ashamed by beating Tsukune.

"Well, we're sorry. I hope we didn't hurt you too much" the girl from before said apologetically.

"Don't worry. We'll catch that guy" Tsukune said smiling, still a bit hurt by the beating he got from them. Once he recovered a bit, Kurumu leaded him to their homeroom and when they got there, Moka was not there.

"It's ok, we have a plan" Kurumu reassured him as she went to her seat.

"Yeah, we'll explain it to you later" Joseph said and so the class continued for the rest of the day.

 **-Newspaper Clubroom, Nighttime-**

The night came and just as they agreed, the growing investigation team meet in the clubroom to, in Velkan's words, make good use of it. Joseph woke Tsukune in the middle of the night and leaded to the second floor of Yokai Academy.

"Why did you bring me here?" Tsukune asked, still half awake. "And why did we stopped at the cafeteria at this hour?"

"We told you, we have a plan" Joseph said as he put a small plastic bag in a rear pocket in his pants and opened the door of the clubroom. Inside were Velkan reading a magazine in the teacher's desk and Kurumu, who was going through the interviews Joseph make to some girls in school in front of the redhead. "And we're here!" he announced getting the other's attention.

"Ah, just in time" Velkan said closing his magazine. "Alright, what do we got? Joseph?"

"Well, the girls didn't really said anything we don't already know" the blond replied as he sat next to Kurumu. "What about you? Where've you been all day?"

"I'll answer that in a minute. Kurumu? Did you find something?" the phoenix asked.

"Well, honestly I didn't found anything. But I saw Gin trick Tsukune into peeping at the changing room of the gym class early today" the succubus replied, making the phoenix smirk.

"What are you talking about? What is all this?" the human asked, not sure of what everyone was talking about.

"Isn't it obvious?" Joseph said and grinned. "We are getting the Newspaper Club the first big news in the school year! And in the process, helping you out with Moka by catching the real peeper. You're welcome, by the way". Tsukune thought for a while before his answer and sat in a near desk.

"Is there any chance that Gin is the perv?"

"I'm glad you asked that, my friend" Velkan said. "Turns out that our good leader Gin was busy last night"

"And how do you know that?" Joseph asked. The phoenix pulled out some pictures from his trench coat and tossed it in front of Joseph. A few of them showed Gin hiding in the bushes near the girl's dorm building; others focused on Gin's camera, which was hanging around his neck. And the last one depicted Gin on a tree taking pictures to one specific room, which belonged to someone who everyone present in the clubroom knew.

"Moka?!" everyone but Velkan said surprised.

"Yup. Apparently he has a little crush on her" the phoenix stated. "By the way, where is she?"

"She wasn't at her room. I looked for her but I didn't want to get caught in the girl's dorms" Joseph replied, making Velkan frown.

"That's not good. Any idea where she may be?"

"You know, there is one place she told me it was her favorite place in school" Kurumu said remembering something. "We should go there and see if she's there"

"What are we waiting for then?" Tsukune said. And so they left the clubroom leaded by the succubus, who had a pretty good guess as to where to find their missing friend.

 **-Main Building's Roof, Meanwhile-**

It was a beautiful night, silent and peaceful, with a bright red full moon shining in the sky. And seated in a cornice of the rooftop was Moka, having another conversation with her inner self. ' ** _He's hiding a large part of his power somehow. I don't trust him_** ' was the warning she gave the outer Moka when they meet Velkan. She didn't wanted to believe that he was a bad guy. But most of her thoughts were focused on another boy she knew.

' _Tsukune can't be the the peeper!_ '

' ** _I don't even know what do you see in him. But something is odd about that_** _ **'**_ her inner self replied. _**'He doesn't seem that kind of guy**_ '

' _I know that, but then... when I saw him early today_ ' she thought remembering Tsukune being attacked by the girls from the Gym class. ' _Those girls were sure that he was the one peeping on them. Maybe-_ '

' _ **Someone's coming**_ ' Inner Moka warned. When the vampire turned around she hoped to see Tsukune and give him a chance to explain, but it turned out to be Gin. And he had a smirk on his face.

"Hi there. Why are you all alone up here?" he asked.

"I just came to think" she replied. "Do you think Tsukune is the peeper?". The question make Gin a bit upset, for he was aiming to get close to Moka and she mentioning another boy wasn't what he was expecting. Luckily for him he had a plan.

"I'm sorry, but it's true" he replied and pulled out a picture from his pockets. "Here, take a look for yourself". It was the picture he took early that day.

"No... this can't be right!" Moka said, still not believing it. And Gin saw his chance.

"Now now Moka, I know this is difficult to accept" he said and put an arm around her rather forcefully. "I'll make it go away"

"No! Stop it!" the vampire yelled. Suddenly, the door that leaded to the roof opened and the investigation team burst in.

"Ah Gin" Joseph said casually. "Just the perv we were looking for"

"Moka!" Tsukune yelled and went towards the vampire, who managed to release herself from Gin's grip. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, but he showed me a picture of you peeping on some girls" Moka replied.

"Right, the "picture". You know I saw the whole thing, right?" Kurumu said to Gin, who was starting to get nervous.

"O-Oh yeah? What did exactly did you saw?"

"I saw you tricking Tsukune to make it look like he was the perv" the succubus said.

"You see, we did some investigation work. And after a few interviews, as you suggested, I think I speak for everyone here when I say that..." Velkan said pointing at Gin. "You, our good leader, are the peeper". Gin couldn't believe it. His master plan to get Moka to himself had utterly failed. There was nothing else he could do... Unless...

"Well, I tried the easy way" he said while smirking. "It a beautiful moon, don't you think?"

"What the heck are you talking about?" Joseph asked. Gin began to laugh louder and louder. ' _ **He has a strong aura around him. He's an S-Class too**_ ' Inner Moka warned. The vampire turned to look at the human boy.

"Tsukune, take my rosario off!" she yelled.

"Why?" he asked. As if on cue, Gin's body began to transform; his skin turned gray and started to get furry, from his hands and feet grew claws and his eyes were bright yellow. By the end of it, it was obvious that Gin was a werewolf.

"Alright, she wins. Just pull the damn thing man!" the blond said. Tsukune nodded and remove the rosario. Moka was enveloped in a bright purple light and her usual pink hair changed into a silver tone.

" **So you are the enemy of all women in school** " Inner Moka said. " **Disgusting** "

"I guess I'll help her" the blond sighed. He didn't like the idea of revealing the kind of monster he was, but wasn't about to let his friends down. And so his transformation began. His skin went pale, his hands spread the claws he used against the mermaid girls a few days ago, from the top of his head two large deer antlers grew. Unfortunately his green shirt was torn apart, revealing that he was so slender that his rib cage was noticed by all the presents. By the time his transformation ended, his face was more like a deer with sharp fangs and a fierce look. "Time to beating the little puppy!" he taunted. Kurumu and Tsukune were confused and a bit afraid of him, but the succubus thought that she could help them against Gin. That was until a hand on her shoulder stopped.

"I don't believe that'll be a wise choice, my dear" Velkan said smiling. Kurumu glanced at him.

"But... I got to help them!" she replied.

"A vampire and a wendigo against a werewolf. Trust me, they got this" the phoenix explained.

"A what?" Tsukune asked cautiously. He knew that everyone in this school was a monster, including his friends, but had no idea what type of monster Joseph was or what a wendigo was for that matter. And despite Kurumu never saw one, she heard awful things about them. Velkan just watched the fight develop before his eyes.

"Wendigos are known for they agility" he began explaining and as he talked Joseph dodged a hit from the werewolf while Moka kicked him in the guts, sending Gin flying to the near wall. "They have an ability called "Famine", which allows them to starve and in that state gain a bit more strength and some kind of healing factor" the phoenix continued. Gin recovered and sent a blow to the Joseph's stomach, who dodge most of it and managed to send a wave of cold air.

"What was that?" Kurumu asked.

"They also posses certain control over cold and wind. It's more like random waves of cold but with some experience and training they are a force to be reckoned with" Velkan replied. Inner Moka decided it was enough time wasted in a perv and sent a kick right at Gin's jaw, taking advantage that he was distracted by the sudden cold, knocking the werewolf and ending the fight.

" **Know your place, you filthy wolf** " she said began walking towards Tsukune.

"Come on, that was fun. We should do this more- ARGHH!" Joseph said before a sharp pain went through his stomach. Inner Moka turned and saw Joseph trying to attack her.

" **What are you doing?! Snap out of it!** " she yelled as she dodged the attacks from her friend.

"What's happening to him?" Tsukune asked.

"Well, that's the downside of the Famine. He'll feel too much hungry to stand and try to devour anything he founds to appease the pain. Including other living beings such as, let's say, a vampire" the phoenix explained, getting ready a small set of ashes in his hands just in case.

"And what we can do?!" the human asked desperately. Suddenly Joseph fell to the ground, much to Inner Moka's surprise.

" **What is with him?** " she asked. The body of the blond regained his human form and when the others approached him, Joseph stood up and smiled at the others.

"I'm glad you're all ok. That was a close call uh?" he joked about. He had a small plastic bag in his left hand and what it seemed like a burrito on his right. "This is why we took the detour to the cafeteria before going to the clubroom Tsukune. After that little rampage I need to eat something quickly before I do something bad" he explained with a sad look in his eyes.

"Is that... a burrito?" Kurumu asked confused, making Joseph regain his mood and frown as the phoenix dismissed the ashes in the area which went unnoticed by the others.

"Is not just a burrito... It's "The" chicken burrito that just save you all" Joseph smirked. "I got this as a preventive measure in case I went too far, which I apologize for"

" **Personally I would just kill you for doing something like that. But you are friends with the other me, so know this: If you ever hurt us, I will put you down** " she warned, making Joseph gulped nervously.

"Got it. See you... umm... next time we get in trouble I guess?" he replied with a weak smile. In the end, after Moka recovered from getting her rosario back, the group decided to take Gin to the entrance of the dorms so he could get to his room by himself. The girls had planned to leave him on the rooftop but Velkan convinced them otherwise.

 **-School Entrance; A few days after, Before Class-**

The investigation team managed to get the newspaper by next Tuesday and on the main news was the identity of the peeper that had been terrorizing the girls these past days. Most of the Newspaper Club members were at the front gate delivering the newspaper to every student passing by.

"Get the most relevant news of the week!" Joseph announced as he gave a pair of them to a few students.

"The identity of the peeper is here!" Moka said next to Tsukune, who was bringing another box from the clubroom.

"This is the last one" he said. "We did it pretty good actually"

"Know the last love rumors on campus!" Kurumu announced and turned to see her friends and remembering something. "You bet! We finished faster that I thought. You guys wait here, I'll be here in a moment". With that she spread her wings and took flight towards the dorms.

"Umm, ok?" Joseph said. "By the way, where is Gin? Isn't he supposed to be here helping us?"

"I think he's a little busy right now" Velkan replied when he turned towards the main building.

"What do you mean?" Moka asked. The phoenix just pointed and they followed his sight line. Gin was being chased by a group of girls, the same girls that beat Tsukune.

"See Moka? I wasn't the peep-" he said just before seeing the vampire lean before him, allowing the human get a fine view of Moka's underwear.

"Don't push your luck pal" Joseph whispered to him, getting his attention just before Moka glanced at him with a smile.

"I knew you weren't the peeper. You just couldn't be" the vampire said not knowing what just happened.

"Oh Moka..."

"Oh Tsukune...

"Moka...

"Tsukune..."

"What are they doing?" Velkan asked curiously.

"I'm not quite sure either..." Joseph replied before hearing a near flutter.

"I'm back!" Kurumu said, bringing a small lunch box with her.

"What's that?" Moka said, after snapping out form her trance.

"I made some cookies to celebrate!" she answered.

"And what exactly are we celebrating?" the blond asked as he took one cookie.

"Our first newspaper published!" the succubus replied cheerfully.

"By the way, what kind of monster are you Velkan?" Tsukune asked curiously. "We know Kurumu is a succubus, Moka is a vampire, Joseph is a wendigo. How about you?"

"Yeah, that's right" Kurumu replied. "It's not like anyone is taking that rule seriously anymore right?". Velkan grinned before talking.

"Tell you what" he replied. "If you can guess what I am, then I will owe a favor to each one of you. But if I happen to reveal myself before you do it, each one of you will owe me a favor".

"Sounds fair" Joseph said after a while. "You're a devil"

"What?! Why does everyone thinks I'm a devil?" the phoenix sighed in defeat.

"Well, it was you who convinced me to start the investigation on Gin and somehow managed to drag Kurumu into that as well" the blond replied.

As they were eating and talking, the phoenix was amused by them. ' _They're good kids. So like their parents were_ '

* * *

 **And that's it for today's chapter guys! I hope you enjoyed and don't hesitate to leave a review or PM me for whatever. See you next time and as always... have a good day. TJMike out :)**


	8. Tricky Little Witch

**Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Phoenix Journal: Burning Cold. This one took its time to came out, so I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

 ** _-Entry 6: Tricky Little Witch-_**

 _"Tests became ridiculously harder than I remember! It seems it was yesterday when I approved the same test without problems, but of course, maths are much more complex than then. In fact, I think I cheated in some tests, involuntarily of course. Due to the nature of my work I have been forced to learn Spanish, German and Russian, plus a couple of dialects spoken only in the monster world making the language test was a piece of cake. And I have lived for over 600 years, so I was present at many of the events described in the history test._

 _Now that I mention it, remember when I said I had lost faith in humanity? Well, one of the reasons for that was the way they treated those who didn't belong to their kind. Hunters, exorcists, crusaders... inquisitors, all of them fighting against the so called "Forces of Darkness" that threatened the human race. In particular, the Witch Trials were famous for being brutal. I can not begin to describe the torture to which they were subjected to, but unfortunately I witnessed the sentencing of one of my best friends to the bonfire. On that occasion, I was about to bring down to ashes the town of Salem but I refrained myself when I saw her face; despite the great pain she was suffering she begged me not to do it, that some day they would understand that humans and monsters can coexist. It has been 350 years since then and nothing at all has changed._

 _Forgive me, some things are hard to say no matter how much time has passed. Back to the present day, Nick better be preparing that rescue mission I asked him for a couple of days ago. I have no idea of what is he planning so I can only hope that none of the Gremory gets hurt. I told Issei to train by the time I got back and even I told Nick that he's not fit to combat situations just yet, I hope he can help him train with his Sacred Gear. I only got a peek of it and Sacred Gears aren't my field of expertise._

 _Anyway, the only thing left for me to do is wait and pray to find the daughters of Tsurara and Fujiko. Mikogami assured me that both of them were in school grounds but it's been more than a week since I got here and there is no sign of them yet. I guess I'll have to speak with him about it. With a bit of luck, both girls will be as peaceful and calm as their mothers..."_

 **-Dorms Buildings, Morning-**

Tsukune woke up and his daily routine began. There were times he wanted to just stay asleep until late but he knew that wasn't an option, so he began to wear the school uniform and proceeded to leave his dorm. A familiar voice welcomed him once he reached the hallway.

"All set, man?" his blond friend greeted him, who was leaning against the wall beside Tsukune's door. The human smiled and replied.

"How long have you been there?" he asked out of curiosity.

"Not long. It's not like I'm in a hurry to see how bad I did it in that test from yesterday" Joseph replied.

"Yeah, I hope I haven't done too badly" the human said. Both of them kept talking while walking down the stairs and went to the boy's dorm entrance, since both of their dorms were on the third floor. By the time they got there, the boys found a sight that had become more and more common in the last days. The girls were waiting for them seated in a near bench along with Velkan, who was standing next to them; they seemed to be having an interesting conversation since Kurumu was laughing and as Velkan grinned and Moka had a little blush on her face.

"Ah gentlemen! Ready to go?" the phoenix asked when he saw the boys.

"How did you get here so fast?" Joseph asked, still trying to figure it out that mystery. Both he and Tsukune wondered how was that Velkan managed to get there before them. The redhead chuckled a bit hearing the question.

"I just woke up earlier than you I guess" he replied. ' _That... and the fact that I practice every morning with the Gremory portals it's been helpful_ ' he mused to himself. As they talked about Velkan's speed to get down the stairs, Kurumu remembered what happened a few nights before when they fought Gin. She heard awful things about wendigos, like the fact they were cannibals or that they could keep their victims alive for months to feed on them. She knew he was her friend, but couldn't help feeling a little uneasy around him now. Suddenly, Moka broke the silence.

"Umm... Tsukune?"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering..." she said nervously, but Tsukune knew what she was talking about.

"Oh, of course" he said while exposing the right side of his neck. "Enjoy it". Moka's face brightened to hear that and proceeded to bite the neck of the human. She didn't knew why but his blood was the most delicious she had tried. Once the vampire was satisfied and felt better she released him.

"Thank you very much. I hadn't enough time to have breakfast and this helped me to recover my energy back" the pink-haired girl said with a smile.

"It's funny. We're just going to the cafeteria before class and you already skipped breakfast?" Joseph asked making Kurumu regain her usual mood.

"W-well I..." Moka started but the blue-haired girl spoke first.

"We were just talking about that before you two came here" the succubus said. "Moka began to came here waiting for 'one' of you, so I decided to accompany her and go to class all together". Both Moka and Tsukune began to blush and the phoenix chuckled before checking the time on his watch.

"Well, since we're all here I suggest we get some breakfast" Velkan said.

"Oh right! And then we can go and see how we did it in the test" Tsukune replied. Joseph flinched at that comment.

"Dude! You have to mention that didn't you!" the blond said.

"Don't worry. I bet you did it better than me" Kurumu replied. And with that, the group made it's way to the cafeteria. As they were walking, Joseph and Moka were talking to Velkan trying to guess his kind in vain. The succubus, on the other hand, went to talk with Tsukune.

"So..." she said to get the human's attention. "What are you?"

"W-why do you ask me that?" he said, a bit surprised by the question and nervous because his secret of being human was kept only by the vampire and the wendigo.

"I just need to know if I have to watch my back from you too" Kurumu said, though Tsukune could tell there was a trace of sadness in her words.

"From me too?" he said and make sure none else could hear him. "Are you talking about Joseph?"

"N-no! Look just tell me what are you and we'll be ok" she whispered back.

"You know w-we can't tell other students what we are" he said nervously. "B-by the way, how is it going with your Destined One? Any progress?" he asked trying to avoid the subject.

"Ugh. Not good. I'm starting to think that he's not here in Yokai" she whined. Their conversation went this way until they reached the school cafeteria.

 **-Main Hall, Morning-**

After their breakfast and much to Joseph's dismay the group went to the main hallway where again, much to Joseph's dismay, the test results were left there to everyone to see. However, and for the blond's relief, his results weren't the ones attracting attention.

"Wow! Congratulations Moka" Kurumu said with certain pride for being friends with a genius.

"Impressive" Velkan said with a smile. ' _Just as your father_ '. Not even Moka herself expected that. The vampire had reached 13th place of all students on that test.

"Moka... if you don't mind, do you think we could study together some time?" Tsukune asked with a small blush, since he only got 128th place.

"Of course, you can... come to my dorm and I'll help you out" Moka said, with the same blush on her face.

"Oh Moka"

"Oh Tsukune"

"Oh Moka"

"Oh Tsukune"

"In that case" Joseph said breaking their loop. "You wouldn't mind if I-" he said before receiving a nudge in the ribs by Kurumu. "Why was that?!" he whispered to the succubus, who gave him a look saying 'Don't ruin their moment'. The blond understood the message and sighed in defeat. "Never mind" he said to Moka. "By the way Velkan, how it went to you?"

"I could do it better" he replied. "Honestly, I never got good at math" he said while pointing his name in the board.

"24th place?! Are you some kind of genius too?" the succubus asked.

"Nonsense. I'm just good at history and languages" the phoenix said with a grin. "You just have to study a bit harder"

"And do you think you could...?"

"Oh sure! I can help you two if you want" he said finishing the blond's question, who sighed in relief since he only made it 135th place.

"I know I didn't do it well, but I thought that if I spend more time looking for my Destined One I'll find him" Kurumu said, traces of discourage in her voice. She didn't bother in finding her name when she didn't saw it in the first half of the board.

"Why don't you guys go ahead to class. The headmaster summoned me yesterday" Velkan said as he walked away from the group. "See you later". As the phoenix leave the area Moka saw three student that seemed to pick a fight with a little girl. It was a girl with black short hair, violet eyes and a skin lighter that Kurumu's. The group didn't knew what was doing a little girl like her in school, and the attire she was wearing didn't help much; it consisted in a dark pink top and a purple corset. The interesting part was that she was wearing the school skirt, which was green and had a checkered pattern, and a hat that seemed to belong to a witch. The students yelling at her were clearly older and wore the male version of the school uniform.

"What is a little girl doing here?" the vampire asked.

"Maybe she's somebody little sister?" Kurumu said. The group kept witnessing the scene from a distance of a few meters away.

"Didn't you knew it's forbidden to show your true nature in campus?" one of them asked.

"Yeah... We'll have to take you to the headmaster" another one said. Suddenly, three golden washtubs materialized from the thin air and fell upon the bullies' heads

"Don't bother me just because I'm smarter that you three together" the girl said between laughs.

"You know what?! Screw the headmaster! Why don't we teach her a lesson by ourselves!" the third one said, who seemed to be their leader and raised his clawed hand intending to hit the little witch. Moka could stand much longer and stepped between the bullies and the girl before anyone could react.

"Stop it! Leave her alone!" Moka said. The leader grunted at her.

"Who are you? Stay out of this!" he replied. "We're just reminding her about the school rules"

"And that involves yelling at her?" Joseph said as he and the others approached. The students began to see that they were at disadvantage and decided to retreat for the time being.

"This is not over yet Sendo!" one of them said and they leave the area. The witch was surprised to receive any help from other students, but was stunned by the fact that was the girl she idolized the one that defended her first.

"Are you okay?" Moka asked.

"Umm... yeah, thank you very much. I-I'm Yukari Sendo" the girl said a bit nervous while bowing. By hearing her name Joseph recognized her immediately.

"Yukari Sendo? Like THE Yukari Sendo that got 1st place on the board?!" he said in a shocked tone.

"Yup" Yukari said proud of herself.

"Aren't you a little young to be in high school?" Kurumu asked curiously.

"I skipped a few years. I'm a genius after all, you know" Yukari replied. "My class is going to begin so I'll see you later". With that she ran away leaving the group of friends a bit confused. In the end they decided that it was best to go to their own class as well.

 **-Headmaster's Office, Meanwhile-**

The phoenix came to the headmaster's office in no time. He wasn't actually summoned to this place, he just needed to discuss some business with him. However, he was surprised when he opened the door.

"Sir? I need to have a few words with you about-" he said before noting something. ' _This is odd. The door was unlocked but he's not here_ ' he thought. As he remembered, the headmaster never left his office but on rare occasions. The phoenix was about to leave, but something on the desk caught his eye. ' _What is this?_ '. Upon closer inspection, Velkan found that is was some kind of list of the students that hadn't joined a club and were at risk of getting suspended or, in some cases, expelled. This measurements would be considered extreme in any human school but since the main objective in Yokai Academy was to encourage the students to coexist with humans in their world, if a student didn't join a club implied that the student had no interest in share the world with mankind and therefore suspensions and expulsions were common in this school. Curiosity got the best of the phoenix and checking the list he came across one name in particular that made his eyes go wide.

"Uh. This is... unexpected" he said when read the name 'Shirayuki, Mizore' marked as 'expelled'. ' _Oh no, you don't_ '. If Mizore was expelled, his job would be even more difficult that already was; he would have to be at the academy with Tsukune and the others, be at the human realm to aid the Gremory and on top of that, be at wherever the snow girl was. He couldn't waste any more time. The phoenix was too busy trying to find something to erase her name from that list to note the presence standing behind him until it spoke.

"May I help you?" the headmaster asked making Velkan flinch in surprise.

"AH! Sir!" he said before regaining his cool. "You should learn how to use the door lock. Someone with bad intentions could just get in and who knows what could do in here" the phoenix said as the headmaster raised an eyebrow.

"Did you found what you were looking for?" he asked again.

"To be honest, not exactly" Velkan sighed. "But I MAY read somewhere that you plan to get Tsurara's daughter expelled. I get that she needs to join a club as soon as possible, but don't you think it's a little rushed?". Mikogami just grinned at hearing the true intentions of the phoenix.

"I assume that you haven't talked to her yet"

"Well, I promised her mother I take care of her while she was on Yokai" the redhead confessed lowering his head. "And it's not just her. I haven't heard anything about Yukari Sendo either.

"About her, some students said she was involved in a little fight near the board in the main hallway" the headmaster said. "Actually, some of them claimed that Miss Akashiya defended her from some bullies". Hearing that Velkan glanced at him in confusion.

"Moka? But I just was with them and..." he snapped, upset at his own impatience. He turned to the door, ready to go. "I have to go. Really though, learn how to use the damn lock, my friend"

"Maybe if you find them you could convince them to join a club" the headmaster said before the phoenix left his office. "After all, I read the school newspaper every Tuesday". Velkan chuckled and nodded before closed the door once he was out. Mikogami couldn't help but grin, recalling this same situation repeat itself after all this years.

 **-School Cafeteria, Noon-**

"Where is he?" Tsukne asked.

"I don't know" Moka said glancing around them. "Do you think we should look for him?"

"Nah. We better finish our lunch and go to the clubroom. He may be there already" Joseph replied. They came to the cafeteria when they classes were over and Velkan was still nowhere to be seen since he left them at the main hall to meet the headmaster. Kurumu took a different path when they got out of the homeroom to continue the search of her Destined One. As they were eating, certain girl disguised as a witch entered and approached their table.

"There you are!" Yukari said looking all excited about the vampire. "May I sit with you?". Although the question was meant to Moka was the blond who answered.

"Of course! There is always room for one more" he said gesturing her to sit. It goes without saying that she chose to be next to the pink haired girl, not being able to take her eyes off the vampire for some reason.

"Thank you very much for stepping in for me" Yukari said to Moka, who smiled at her.

"It was nothing. I couldn't stand them picking on you just for the way you dress" Moka replied. "In fact, I love your disguise. You look cute on that". Those comments only made the little witch more determined to say what she came to say in the first place.

"Cute? Me? Hehe. No, you are the cute and beautiful one... and I... umm" she seemed to be a bit uneasy about something but when Tsukune was about to ask about it, Yukari dropped a bomb. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?!. The reactions to the question were diverse, to say the least and if Velkan had been present he would said even funny. Tsukune spilled his drink, taken completely by surprise while Joseph froze in his place, about to put in his mouth a piece of steak.

"Did I get that right? I thought I heard that Yukari asked Moka to be her..." he began but when he saw the expressions of the others he knew that he wasn't wrong. "Oh. Ok. That's. Not weird at all, right?" he said sarcastically.

"W-well, I..." Moka didn't knew what to say. It was obvious that she wanted to say 'No' but she didn't knew how to say it without hurting the feelings of the witch. "I am a _girl_ , and I can be your _friend_ "

' _Really? Is that the best thing you can say right now?_ " was the thought that everyone but Yukari had in mind. The little girl was excited since apparently had misinterpreted the vampire's words.

"Yay! I'm glad you said yes!" she said as she hugged Moka, who didn't really knew what to do in this situations. Since Tsukune was still in a state of shock, it was Joseph's duty to save his friends.

"Well, look at the time" he said getting everyone's attention. "We should be heading to the clubroom or Gin is gonna kill us" he said as he helped the human to get up and glance to Moka, who nodded and followed his lead.

"Yeah, you're right" she replied as she free herself from the witch' grip. "We don't want to make him mad, right?". As they left the cafeteria, none of them noticed Yukari's smirk.

- **Main Hall, A few moments later** -

Unfortunately for them, Yukari had managed to follow the group and at some point between the cafeteria and the main hall she had put herself behind Moka and now she'd been groping the vampire's breast as they walked much to Tsukune's annoyance.

"Wow! They are big and perfect!" the little witch said. "I hope mine could be like this when I get older". Tsukune had enough and seemed to wake up from his shock by hearing this.

"What are you doing?!" he finally said.

"Don't bother us!" Yukari snapped, tired by having the two boys around her precious Moka. "I did some research on you two for being near my Moka; Tsukune Aono and Joseph Hawk, both of your grades combined are lower than mine. And as for your physical skills Joseph is, surprisingly I must say, the top 25 of the track team according to Mr. Katsubo. But you Tsukune, your skills are below the average! It's almost like you were a human" she finished disgusted. "Do you have anything to say in your defense?" Yukari asked, hoping that the boys would see how pathetic they were and, ashamed for that, would leave Moka all to herself.

"Wow, really? I did knew that I was among the top 25 of the track team" Joseph said, both surprised to be among the best runners of campus and as a way to avoid the conversation of Tsukune being human.

"I know, congratulations" Tsukune replied, relieved by that comment. The little witch didn't knew how to respond to that, and that infuriated her. In a moment of rage for not taking her seriously, she pulled what seemed like a wand and used her magic on some maintenance supplies, such as brooms, mops and buckets, and began beating the two boys with them.

"That will teach you!" Yukari said to them and turned to see the shocked vampire. "Let's go Moka"

As the two girls left the area, all the bewitched supplies lost their magic and fell to the ground as normal brooms and mops, leaving Tsukune and Joseph unconscious on the floor. The small crowd formed around them was starting to dissipate as normal life continued on Yokai Academy and as it did a much smaller crowd was passing by that same corridor, although this one consisted on boys only. In it's center was Kurumu, a bit distracted by all the boys who kept swearing their love to her, and when she turned to see the hallway she gasped.

"Guys?" she said to herself, trying to recognize the two boys on the floor. When she did she addressed to her small public. "Excuse me, would you be so kind and check on those boys?"

"Why? Are you interested in those guys?!" one of them snapped. Kurumu did what she did best.

"Of course not darling, I'm just worried about them. Why don't you help me get them to the nurse office?" she asked with the cutest face she could put and that turned their jealousy into admiration.

"She is so caring for others!"

"I love you more now!"

' _I know you do_ ' the succubus mused. Tsukune and Joseph were carried by two boys each and went ahead towards the nurse office, followed closely by Kurumu and the rest of the boys. In the cafeteria, a phoenix was looking for his friends without success.

"Where are you guys?" he muttered for himself.

 **-Nurse's Office, Evening-**

Tsukune opened his eyes after a while and found that Joseph and Kurumu were there. The succubus dismissed her fanboys little after they arrived to the nurse office and decided to stay with them until they wake up. The wendigo was first and although she was a bit afraid in the beginning, Joseph prove to be the same as always, being sarcastic and lightening the mood with his witty comments.

"You took your time man" the blond said to the human.

"How long was I slept?" he asked, worried for missed a few classes.

"About half hour" Kurumu replied. "What happened to you guys? When I looked both of you were unconscious on the floor. And where is Moka?"

"She's with that little brat" Joseph snapped. Kurumu heard the two boys explain what happened at the cafeteria, about Yukari asking Moka to be her girlfriend, about them trying to escape the little witch awkward situation and about her assault with the brooms and mops at the main hall. When they finished talking, the succubus was trying really hard to suppress a laugh, without success.

"Why are you laughing?! This is serious!" Tsukune yelled.

"I'm sorry" she said after she recovered. "I'm sorry, but this is so funny!"

"And how is that us being hit is funny?" Joseph asked in a upset tone.

"Because the one that beat you was a little girl! Hahaha!". Unnoticed by everyone, outside of the nurse office was a witch laughing at the same time that Kurumu. Yukari lost Moka a few moments ago and found out where was Tsukune's room and decided to play a prank on him. In order to do that she had a set full of tools back in her room, and had chose a voodoo doll to gain control over the human's body.

"This will be even funnier" she whispered. As she grabed a hand of the doll and make it hit itself, inside Tsukune began to hit himself.

"What the heck man?" the blond said surprised.

"Those mops hit you on the head really hard, didn't it?" Kurumu replied, getting a little worried.

"It's not me!" Tsukune yelled as he kept hitting himself. "I can't control myself!". That comment made Joseph flinch as he remembered being unable to move at will when Kurumu charmed him on the second day in this place. He forgave the succubus for that but the feeling of being controlled by someone else was a bit overwhelming to him. Before he could get to say anything else, outside the room Yukari was snickering as she had come with another idea. Back inside, Tsukune's hand went from hitting his head to a more... pervy actions.

"We should call the nurse here and-" Kurumu began but then she flinched and blushed when she felt a hand holding her prominent chest. "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING!" she cried out loud.

"I-I can't c-control my h-hand!" Tsukune said trying hide his own blush since he was practically groping the succubus' boobs. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Aren't you going to do something?!" Kurumu snapped at Joseph, unable to get Tsukune out of her since he was on top of her on the hospital bed. Joseph tried to lighten the mood and began to laugh.

"You were right! This is funny!" he said at the sight of Tsukune groping the succubus.

"WHAT?!" both of them yelled at him.

"I'm kidding!" he replied and tried to get his human friend off Kurumu. "You know what would be funny though?"

"Ugh, do I really want to know?" the succubus snapped knowing that he would say another joke out of the situation.

"It would be funny if Moka come through that door and see you two like this". That comment made both Tsukune and Kurumu's eyes widen for neither of them wanted to give the vampire the wrong idea and tried even harder than before to get the human off the succubus. But after the wendigo's comment the door opened and Moka entered to the room, having lost Yukari a while ago.

"I think I lost her" she said and then opened her eyes. She gasped at the scene before her.

"Moka! It's not what you're thinking!" Kurumu said quickly.

"W-what are you doing Tsukune?" the vampire said, her heart broken. "Do you like Kurumu more than me?". Inner Moka took a mental note to kill Tsukune later for make the other self cry again, but before Moka could run away in tears Joseph save everyone's day once more.

"Don't worry Moka, he is still crazy for you" the blond said casually,making both the human and the vampire blush at the same time. "Tsukune is under some kind of magic and I'm sure that Kurumu had nothing to do with it, right?"

"Of course! I didn't do anything!" the succubus said as an idea came to her mind. "But I think I can do something about this". After a while they managed to get rid of whatever got Tsukune by letting Kurumu charm the human into letting her go and by the time she undid her magic Tsukune was normal again.

"That was a close one. Thank you" he said with a smile.

"Now all that's left is to find out what happened to you" Moka said, her mood recovered after all was done.

"I think I have an idea of who did it" Joseph said in a dull way pointing at the window, a big distinctive witch hat was outside the glass. That when they heard a small laugh.

 **-Outside benches, Evening-**

There were very few students outside since at that time most students were either at their clubrooms or at their dorms so the group took Yukari and went to a bench outside the main building and discuss the recent events with her. Tsukune was especially upset with her for the incident involving his hands on Kurumu's breast.

"It's not her fault!" Moka said trying to defend Yukari, who hide behind her.

"Why aren't you telling her that this is wrong?" the human replied. "If she keeps doing pranks on everyone she'll not have any friends. Guys help me a little here" he said glancing at the others.

"You know I got your back and all but..." Joseph began and chuckled a bit and whispered to the succubus. "But it was fun watching you hitting yourself"

"We wouldn't like to take sides here" Kurumu finished and smiled at Joseph. "And it was kinda funny hear that you got beat by a bunch of brooms" making the wendigo facepalm. Before Tsukune could even say 'traitors' Yukari spoke up.

"I don't care! I don't need anyone's friendship if they're stupid" she said, proud in her words. "Besides, I've been alone all my life". That comment made them stop their talk and look at her, surprised to hear that. Even Tsukune was starting to feel bad for her, but as soon as that happened a golden washtub materialized from the thin air and fell upon the human's head making the little witch laugh out loud.

"I didn't though you'd fell for that one!" she said and ran away from there.

"That brat!" Tsukune said when he recovered and was about to run after her when Moka spoke.

"You shouldn't be that hard on her" she said. "I'm gonna get her and talk to her". As the vampire went Tsukune sat in the bench.

"What's her problem?"

"I don't know, but I can't blame her considering her situation" Kurumu said trying to understand Yukari's feelings.

"What do you mean?" Tsukune said.

"You don't know?" the blue haired girl asked.

"Care to explain a little more?" Joseph said.

"It's because she's a witch" Kurumu explained. "Witches and warlocks are considered as 'border beings' because they are not entirely humans but at the same time they aren't considered monsters either. And because of that, here in the monster realm they've been discriminated. And... well, you know about the Witch Trials in the human world, right?"

"Yeah, they were pretty savages on those" the blond replied. Tsukune remained silent; he never thought witches could exist and if the people that the inquisition killed were real witches and wizards, he began to realize how Yukari was feeling. Loneliness was a terrible thing and he felt that at some point in human schools because he never got many friends in there, but here in a school full of monsters, he made interesting friendships to say the least. A wendigo, a succubus, a vampire and even if he didn't knew, the last phoenix. Now he knew that all those pranks were meant to get attention from others and was determined to make friends with her too. Suddenly he stood and ran after Moka and Yukari, leaving the others behind.

"Wow, where are you going?" Joseph said when they caught up with him.

"You are in a rush, uh?" Kurumu said, running at his side.

"I need to talk with Yukari"

"Well, you're not going to find her like this. I know a faster way" the succubus said as she spread her bat-like wings and went behind him.

"What are you- Ahh!" he yelled when he felt that his feet weren't touching the ground and a pair of hands grabbing his chest. They were flying near the tree line when he noticed a blurred figure by their side.

"That's cheating, you know?" Joseph said, who was using his wendigo's enhanced agility to jump from tree to tree. At this rate, Tsukune thought, it was only matter of time before they find the girls. Back in the main building, Velkan was talking to a few students trying to determine the whereabouts of the little witch or the others.

"Are you sure?" the phoenix asked.

"Yeah! I'm telling you, I was walking by the nurse's office corridor and Kurumu's fans were carrying two boys like the ones you described" a girl said.

"Now that I think about it, I just saw Moka running towards the forest" the boy next to the girl said.

"Really?! Where exactly was she going?! How long was that ago?!" Velkan asked quickly, beginning to get worried. ' _I get the feeling that this is not going to end well for some reason_ '. The boy smirked and then made the biggest mistake of his school life. He tried to blackmail a phoenix.

"You know, I could tell you..." the boy began, and the phoenix knew where this was going since he had done the same thing hundreds of times before. "But I'll need a few favors from you like-" he said before being interrupted by a rather serious and threatening aspect of Velkan. The boy actually was thinking more in the lines of the redhead to make his homework for a week, or for him to carry the boy's bag for a moth, or a blackmail that any high school kid would do. On normal circumstances, Velkan would give the boy a few blackmailing lessons, but this time he was in a rush.

"Listen kid, I'm not in the mood for games. Either you tell me what you know or..." he replied as he shoved the boy to the lockers behind them and ignited the ashed in his other hand, making the students near them turn in awe in their direction.

"W-what are you?!" the girl said.

"Alright! Alright! I saw Moka running to the forest by the dorms"

"When?!" Velkan said.

"A-About 10 minutes ago! Please don't hurt me!" the boy begged. The phoenix let him go and dismissed his ashes, then he helped the boy to stand up and shook his hand.

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" the phoenix said and left the place, leaving a number of students wondering with a bunch of questions regarding what just happen. ' _Just where on earth are you guys?_ '

 **-School Forest, Evening-**

Moka was on her way towards a swamp area of the forest near the academy. It was curious though, how the school was surrounded by many kinds of terrains and environments such as the cliffs near the bus station, a few meadows in the outsides of the forest, which covered most of the sight at the academy and then there were about ten to twelve small swamps inside the forest. She saw Yukari go to this area and soon she reached her.

"Yukari! Why did you ran away like-"

"And the savior is here too! This just got better" a voice in front of the girls spoke. When Moka turned to see the three boys that were bullying the witch early that day. Only that they were in their monster form, revealing themselves as lizardmen. "Are you going to save her like before?" the leader said.

"Stay behind me. I'll try to hold them as long as I can" the vampire said. ' ** _What are you talking about?! You know you had no chance against them unless the human get the Rosario off_** ' her Inner self spoke in her mind.

 _'I know, but he's not here and I need to do what I can to defend her_ '

' _ **Why are you doing this for her? She's not worth our lives**_ ' Inner snapped.

' _Because we were like her!_ ' Outer Moka replied, taking Inner by surprise. ' _We were like her, all alone and no friends on every school we attended. We were always the 'freak' and the 'crazy girl who thinks she's a vampire'. That was until we got into this school and meet Tsukune, and Joseph, and Kurumu, and Velkan. I think we can make the difference for her. That's why...'_ she clenched her fist and took a few steps. ' _... we need to be here for her'._ If Inner Moka would have been there with her physically she would have smiled at the bravery of her other self.

' ** _And what about her... obsession with us?_** ' she teased Outer, making her flinch remembering her little outburst from earlier.

' _W-we'll think about that later_ '. As she finished her mental debate, the lizardman's leader spoke seeing the vampire serious about fighting them.

"Hehehe. I think we'll have some fun here guys" he said as he ran towards her, intending to grab the vampire with his claws. Moka took Yukari and jumped to the side to avoid the attack. She stood up and hit him as hard as she could and though she managed to push him back a bit it wasn't enough. The girls soon were surrounded by the bullies.

"So much for a savior" one of them mocked and grabed Yukari. Just as he was about to bite the witch a voice took everyone by surprise.

"Wait!" someone said from above them and when they turned to see they saw a boy being picked up by a girl with bat wings, much to Moka's relief.

"Tsukune! Kurumu! Thank goodness you're here" the vampire said glad to see her friends.

"Where else would we be?" the succubus asked smiling at her as she spreaded her claws. "That's what friends are for, right?". Tsukune went right towards Moka and Yukari to make sure that they were okay. While he was at it another voice spoke from beneath the lizardman.

"As I said" a blonde boy in a dark green denim vest with black claws in his hands appeared from behind a tree. "Flying is cheating Kurumu!".

"Joseph!" Moka said as the wendigo went by her side as the others.

"Oh come on! You're such a bad loser" Kurumu replied as she crossed her arms. "It was a fair race from the bench to here"

"I don't have wings and you know it!" Joseph snapped, he felt a sudden burst of monster energy but pay it no mind. "I want the rematch back"

"Fine, but that'll only prove that I'm faster than you" Kurumu replied.

" **Hey!** " Inner Moka spoke getting everyone's attention. Apparently, while both of them were discussing Tsukune had took the vampire's rosario off without them noticing. " **If you are done talking, can we proceed?** ". During all this time, the three lizardman were starting to see how at disadvantage they really were.

"Boss, I think we should leave this place" one of them said.

"What, are you scared of a few freshman that-ARGHH!". He got a kick straight in his face that send him fly away.

" **Bullying a little girl like that. Know your place!** " Inner Moka stated. As the other two were fighting Joseph and Kurumu, Tsukune remained in the sidelines with Yukari, who was speechless; why were they here for her, after the pranks she pulled on them?.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because you could use some friends, right?" the human explained. "I was alone too, you know?. Back in my old school, I think I never fit in there. But then I got here and made a lot of friends"

"But then..." Yukari began but words failed her. The silence was broken by Kurumu.

"We want you to be our friend you pipsqueak!" she said as she approached her and retracted her wings and claws.

"Leaving the fact that you beat us with brooms, you're not that bad you know" Joseph said, his hands back to normal.

" **Tsukune! If you mind giving me my Rosario...** " the vampire said to Tsukune with an open hand. " **I'll leave the talk to the other one, child** " she snapped, too proud to show any care for the girl. With a 'click', the rosario used the power that flowed naturally through Inner Moka's body and used to create the barrier that sealed her in her mind, giving the control of their body to Outer Moka once again. Her talk however, was put on hold as a redhead boy in a dark gray trench coat that Yukari never saw before approached them.

"Finally! There you are!" Velkan said in relief before noticing the three students unconscious on the ground, still in their monster forms. "I see you'd been busy. And you must be Yukari Sendo right?"

"Where've you been all day?" Joseph asked. After explaining, or rather omitting some facts to fit the story he made up on his way, Velkan and the others decided to take Yukari with them and when they reached the dorms buildings, the girls took the witch to her room.

 **-Newspaper Club, The next day after class-**

As they waited for Gin to show up, the rest of the members of the club found a few ways to keep themselves busy; Moka and Kurumu shared a fashion magazine they found on the back of the classroom, while Joseph and Tsukune had a talk about girls.

"Good evening everyone!" Velkan greeted them. After class, the phoenix excused himself and separated from the rest without giving much explanation... again. When they turned to see him they found Yukari smiling next to him.

"Yukari? What are you doing here?" Moka asked.

"I'm joining Newspaper Club!"

"Cool! The more the merrier" Joseph replied and apparently the others agreed with him.

"You see, yesterday I went with the chairman and he asked me to find two more members for our club" Velkan said

"Really?" Moka asked surprised in a good way. Velkan nodded.

"Apparently he likes the school newspaper and reads it every Tuesday" the phoenix assured. After the witch apologized for the pranks the day before, the leader of the club came to the classroom.

"Sorry to be late but you know me" Gin began. "A good investigator like myself is always looking for a good story"

"Yeah right, and were've you been this time?; the pool or the gym" Kurumu asked in a dull way making Gin flinch.

"Oh come on! I don't do that!" the werewolf replied. The others but Yukari glared at him in response. "... too often?"

"Anyways" Velkan interrupted. "You'd bee glad to know that we'll have two more members for the club"

"Seriously? That's great! We're gonna need the extra help for our next issue"

"Why's that?" Tsukune asked.

"Because it seems that a girl in our class froze a teacher without reason and word is that if she gets involved in one more incident, she'll get herself expelled. Our duty is to interview her and get the news before that happens" Gin explained. ' _A girl? able to use ice? getting herself expelled?! You gotta be kidding me_ ' the phoenix thought.

"Out of curiosity" Velkan said, afraid to know the answer. "Do we know the name of the girl?"

"Yeah, her name is Mizore Shirayuki" the wolf replied after checking a note he pulled out of his jacket. ' _Oh crap_ '. Suddenly, a phone ringed.

"Sorry, that's mine" the phoenix excused and checked the number. "I got to take this one. Why don't you star without me?. He left the clubroom before anyone could say otherwise. "Any progress?" he answered his phone.

" **Right! Hello to you too. Seriously, would it kill you to be polite when you answer you phone for a change?** "

"Now is not a good time" he replied while making sure nobody hear him. "I'm a little busy right now. What is it?"

" **Well, we could use a little backup right now** " Nick said. He sounded a bit worried and that didn't help to calm the phoenix mind.

"What did you do?"

" **I think we screw it** "

 **-The Eternal Palace, That very same moment-**

Some where at the limits of reality there was a dark castle. This fortress, however, wasn't meant to defend it's inhabitants from the outside; it was there to protect everything in the universe from the powers held in it's interior. Two figures walked in one of the spotless hallways of the first floor. One could tell that one of them was wearing some kind of formal suit; the other one was slightly shorter and was wearing a light armor set.

"So, you're telling me that only one is missing" the taller one said, whom voice was like that of a man in his twenties.

"That's right" the other nodded. "They'll find her soon and we could get to the next phase"

"Good" the first replied. "Oh, by the way. The higher-ups told me to remind you that this Asia Argento girl is of vital importance, and therefore she must remain alive at all costs"

"I know, I know. Geez, you're as easy to tease as that phoenix, you knew that?" the shorter one said. "I mean, for a primal force you have some attitude issues". The taller shadow shoved the other one towards the wall and held him there with the left arm as his right hand formed a long and straight sword with a golden handle, imbued in white flames. The blade was inches away from the short's neck.

"Don't you dare to compare me with that Son of Eva again!. That damn phoenix and I have nothing in common" the guy with the armor replied in disgust as he let the other go and made his sword disappear.

"Ok, ok! It seems that I touch a nerve there, uh?" the one wearing the armor said raising his hand in defense, making the other sigh trying to regain composure.

"Just get to Earth again and keep doing your job, reaper"

* * *

 **Now, time for a few clarifications...**

 **1) As I mentioned before, this story will get many Supernatural references. In fact, some key facts will came out straight for the Supernatural Universe, like Eva being the "Mother of All", meaning that she's the mother of all monsters. I'll tell more of these facts as they're mentioned.**

 **...Well, that's all I guess. I thought they were going to be another one. Oh well. Thank you all for reading, see you on the next chapter and as always have a good day/night!**


	9. The Neko's Suspicion

**That's right... Phoenix Journal is back! Or at least it's going to be updated more often.**

 **Oh boy, where did left it? Oh right, I haven't introduced Mizore yet! Well, that'll happen when it happens. For now, I bring you this chapter of Book I: Burning Cold.**

 **Read, enjoy and review if you like.**

* * *

[The handwrite is different than Velkan's in this page. It seems to be added at a later date]

 **Entry 08 - The Neko's Suspicions**

 _"Hi there! Nick writing!... I don't know if this is how Velkan does it, but it's going to be my way to say 'hi' to whoever reads this stuff. Anyways, I think I'll be writing some stuff about me._

 _Well, the first thing you may need to know about me is that I'm dead... Yeah, pretty weird right? The truth is I didn't believed myself when they told me so. All I know about it is me being in a strange place, where the sky is greenish gray and the clouds are dark, almost black. And there I was. Sadly, I don't remember anything from when I was alive. I was just standing in that place, like... waiting for something... or someone._

 _It was then when a chick came for me; she was like 16 years old or so, with long purple hair that reached her back flowing behind her in a ponytail. She was wearing what it looked like a white school uniform with black details. With her dark purple eyes she looked at me, and smiled. She told me that someone very important wanted to talk with me. Then she took my hand, and a bright light formed around us. I must've been on auto-pilot or something because the next thing I know is both of us walking towards a castle in the middle of nowhere (I mean like, literally, in the middle of nowhere because there was nothing but the castle itself. Heck, there wasn't even ground or soil around the building. It was just standing in the air for crying out loud!)_

 _Whatever it was, we entered the castle and went to a secluded area that seemed to be an office. The girl -who I forgot to mention her name; it was Claire- told me that this man was in charge of the place with the weird sky. I'm sure she said a lot of other interesting stuff but I was a kid back then, no more than 10 years old, so don't blame for being a bit distracted by the sudden situation. After that, we opened the door with the label 'CEO'. Sat in his chair was a very thin man in his late fifties, wearing a black business suit with a steel tipped cane resting by his side. I distinctly remember him using a silver ring with a white stone in it. The man looked at me without expression, and then I looked at Claire, who nodded... Aaaand if Velkan let me, I'll finish this story the next time. Sorry but Velkan said I have to keep it short. So I'll get to the point of this entry._

 _Anyways, Velkan told me about this girl that looked like this Asia. I knew very well who he was referring to, and it turned out to be a little more difficult to track down than anticipated. As expected, she got a new identity but I managed to find 20 possible candidates to this day. I expect to shorten that list down to at least five girls before I report back to Velkan._

 _As for the other favor, I'll take it easy. The whole 'Asia rescue' thing is pointless to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure she is a good girl and all, but she's pretty irrelevant to the assignment. On another note, I got the specifics on Issei's Sacred Gear but I haven't been able to go throught it since my boss is out. Speaking of which, you woulnd't believe what was the stupid reason he gave us for being absent; family matters. I mean, come on, what kind of family could have that guy?"_

 **-Morning, Hyodou Residence; Two days before-**

It was early in the morning at the human realm. In fact, the sun was barely on the horizon much to Issei's annoyance. Rias had decided that the brief encounter they had with Freed Sellzen was more than enough reason for her lastest servant to begin to grow strong. And what better way to do it than some warm up exercises in the morning? It was beyond discussion the fact that Issei wasn't the strongest human host of the Red Dragon Emperor... or the human turned devil for that matter.

"Dammit" Issei grumbled as he was doing a few push ups. " _I still don't get how doing some exercise is going to help me get devil powers like Kiba or Akeno have?_ "

 ** _"Do not worry partner"_** a voice spoke in his mind. _**"You already did 100 push ups and 100 situps. All that is left is a jog to school"**_

 _"Yeah, don't remind me. I'm beaten!"_ the human replied in defeat. As he was heading for his stuff to get to begin his school day, a blonde girl passed by his side on the sidewalk and Issei couldn't help but sigh, seeing the resemblance with a certain nun he met before. _"I just hope Asia is okay. It's been a few days since Velkan left and I can't just sit on my ass waiting for him to rescue her"._

In all honesty, Draidg didn't understood his most recent host at all; the Sacred Gear where the dragon's soul resided, the Boosted Gear, it only had been owned by great strategists and bloodlust warriors. Issei Hyodou, however, was different; his main motivation in life weren't fights, nor sports, not even videogames like any other teenager. No, Issei was a pervert, or to be more accurate, Issei was THE king of perverts and was aiming to be the Harem King. How did someone like this kid managed to acquire the Boosted Gear? That was the big mystery to Draidg, but the dragon was sure that despite the inappropriate behavior around women, Issei showed real concern about his friends. The only thing the Welsh Dragon could do was try to cheer him up until they could be able to get Asia to safety.

 _ **"It will be alright."**_ he said after a while. _**"I did not meet Velkan personally in the past, but you can be sure about something regarding the phoenix. Despite being clevers and cheaters, a phoenix always keep his word. He will come back, partner."**_

 _"Well, if you say so..."_ Issei begun. _"Fine, we'll wait then."_

Suddenly, his senses went crazy again. It was the same way he felt when he first meet Asia, and when they fought Freed. According to Rias, basically this feeling was his body reacting to near danger. Whatever it was, it wasn't good sign. Issei looked around him everywhere, trying to find out any possible threats, without success.

"Maybe I'm not used to being a devil, that's all." he said, relaxing a bit.

"Yeah, I get ya. It happened something like that to me back in the day." a voice said behind him, causing both Issei and Draidg to shudder. He turned only to see a boy about his height, with black hair and blue eyes, wearing a black hoodie zipped up because of the cold in the air and dark blue jeans. "Hi, you must be Issei Hyodou, right?" he said.

"Y-Yeah, that's me." Issei confirmed surprised. "Who are you?" he asked. _"I didn't hear him coming!"_

 ** _"Not even I sense him approaching!"_** an altered Draidg replied on the back of his mind.

"Not even a dragon could sense my presence?!" the stranger said excited. "Ha! I mean, I knew I was awesome, but not that much!"

"You can hear Draidg?!" Issei asked in shock, not knowing if he should be amazed or scared of this guy.

"Of course! The name's Nick by the way," he boy replied and leaned to whisper something to him." and a mutual red-haired friend of us sent me here."

"Velkan?! What are we waiting for? Let's go already!" Issei said out loud.

"Whoa, whoa! Hold your horses right there!" Nick said. "We still don't know where are they keeping her, or what their intentions are."

"But..."

"Besides, it's not like we have something like a plan or anything." Nick replied grabbing the back of his head and smiling weakly.

"What?! But it's been a whole week!" Issei yelled, impatience growing inside him.

"Hey, I just got into town, you know?" Nick said in his defense. "Let me take care of the details. Why don't you go ahead and go to school? I'll see you after class."

"Where will you do until then?"

"Well, we still need to know where is she exactly, right?" he said, waving his hand as he walked away. "Don't worry, I'll come up with something."

"Wait!" Issei shouted as he ran to catch up with him. "If Velkan sent you then... you're not... human, are you?"

Nick stood there, processing the devil's question for a moment. Draidg, using Issei's eyes, could detect a trace of sadness in his face before quickly regaining his grin from before. "It wouldn't be that interesting if I were, huh?" he replied and then kept walking.

 _ **"He seems to be an odd one."**_ Draidg said as they saw him disappearing in the distance.

 _"Yeah, it's creepy enough that he can just walk behind someone without noticing, but he acts like he doesn't care about Asia at all"_ Issei said back. With that, Issei finished the rest of his morning training and left to school.

 **-Morning, City Streets-**

Nick had an idea to find this Asia girl, whom had managed to caught the higher up's eye for some reason. He was supposed to check some possible locations of interest in the city, in order to get to know the local factions of Devils, Angels, and Fallen, as well as assisting Rias Gremory and her peerage if they attempted a rescue mission. That was the plan.

But to Nick, this was also a golden opportunity; his role as Velkan's support didn't left him with much free time, and he was allowed to hang out in the human realm only for work-related stuff, like the time when he paid a visit to Lord Gremory's human mansion to take a look to Vizer's execution sentence... among other interesting documents. So this was a good chance to simply walk around.

"This is awesome! Finally I get time to just hang out, relax a bit in the human realm..." he said out loud. _"And maybe, just maybe, find any clue about my past in the land of the living in the process."_

On very rare ocassions, some of his memories where triggered by something he heard or saw when he was on earth helping the phoenix with his assignments. Up until now, he'd managed to remember a few faces but nothing else. And he hoped this walk through the city would clear up his mind and reveal something else about his former self.

Unfortunately, none of that happened after he took a look at two of the three relevant places for the local factions; an abandoned shrine dedicated to the Japanese Gods, as well as the city graveyard just in case, with no luck.

 _"Damn, I hate to admit it but this was a wasted day."_ Nick thought. _"I'm not even sure if I want to check on that abandoned church at this point."_ And just as he arrived at the old building and wondering about whether wasting more of his free time checking it out or not, something, or rather, someone caught his eye.

"Hmm, who are you?" he muttered to himself as he hid behind the corner of a building. Two blocks ahead was the old church building grounds, and there were a distinctive group of people going inside it: a tall young women with long navy hair and a voluptuous figure in a very revealing purple trenchcoat-like top with a matching miniskirt; a blonde girl in a rather gothic attire and a cocky smirk; and a shady guy wearing a gray coat and pants, in addition to a fedora hat. Nick touched the black stone in his necklace, and a sudden darkness emerged from it, wrapping him and making him disappear form everyone's sight. Now he was invisible.

 _"Man, I'm so dead if Velkan finds out that I used the stone again."_ Nick thought, as he remembered the phoenix warning him about the extended use of his powers. _"I'll try to get close to them, but if they turns out to be anything supernatural they may feel my presence."_

Then Nick went through the sidewalk, avoiding the people that came and went by it. After a short walk, he was close enough to get to the particular group's earshot, just outside of the old church entrance. He poped out his head to have them in his sight.

"So, are we sure about this?" the man asked. They were in the building, but because the place was empty most of their conversation was being echoed though the walls.

"Of course we are in! We got that girl's Sacred Gear now, but we also need to get rid of those goddamned devils!" the girl in goth cloths said, rather excited.

"Why are you asking about it now? Are you planning on getting out?" the woman asked while narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"You better not, old man." a voice said from the inside of the building. A boy with short, dark green hair and gray eyes showed up. He was wearing a somekind formal attire with a golden belt, with black pants, black shoes, a long-sleeve red shirt with golden cufflinks. He had a black and red cape around him, giving him a distinguish air "I didn't left our lair at Iwatodai for you to back down now."

"Don't be ridiculous, Malachi. All I'm saying is..." the man was about to keep talking but something seemed odd in the enviroment and looked around as if looking for something. Nick quickly took a few steps back as quietly as he could. After a while, the shady guy spoke again. "All I'm saying is that we don't need to follow her orders. Not anymore, if you know what I mean..." the man replied, adding a grin at the end.

 _"Phew... That was a close one. And no! Of course I don't know what do you mean!"_ Nick yelled in his mind, desperate to get any info now that the girl mentioned 'Sacred Gears' and 'devils'. _"Could you be more specific?"_

"Could you be more specific?" the woman said, a smirk formed in her face. Nick was shocked by his luck. "Are you implying a betrayal here?"

"What?!" the girl asked in surprise. "We can't just do that to her... can we?".

"Raynare may be a little off, but let's not forget to whom our loyalty is with." the boy said, trying to defuse the situation the man was creating.

"Hmm." The woman put a hand to her chin. "It's truth that Rayare has been strange lately. She truly is loyal to Azazel, and she plans on giving the Sacred Gear to him but..."

"The real question here is... Do we want that?" the man inquired, ignoring Malachi's comment.

 _"Ok. Now that is being specific!"_ Nick fist-bumped mentally. The girls didn't seem too convinced about this, but agreed in the end. After that chat the four fallen went inside the church, where Nick couldn't follow due to the large quantity of fallen energy he sensed, meaning a large group of fallen angels in the building. _"Heh, and that guy didn't believe me when I said something would come off."_ he thought as he turned visible again without nobody notice him, and walked away.

 **-Evening, Kuoh Academy-**

The school day was over, and by the time Nick reached Kuoh Academy, he had about 12% of a plan formed in his mind. Although he got more information than expected, he only knew that a group of fallen leaded by some Raynare was holding a girl with a Sacred Gear -possibly Asia- and planned to extract it from her somehow to give it to Azazel, a big shot among fallen... and that one of her lieutenants was convincing the others of turn on her as well. He didn't got to hear when or where the ritual was taking place, but it was something.

"I'm still not sure how are we gonna rescue her, though." Nick said quietly. _"Should I introcude myself to Lady Rias with this information?"_ he asked in the back of his mind as he waited at the entrance of the school.

"... What are you doing?" a voice pulled out of his thoughts aboout ten minutes later. He turned, and saw a little girl with short pale hair and hazel eyes wearing the school uniform. She looked at him suspiciously.

"Oh, I'm just waiting for a friend of mine. He's late though" Nick said. "Have you seen him? His name is Issei Hyoudou." At the mention of her devil colleague, Koneko's senses went extremely alert.

"He's still in club activities." she said in her usual plain tone of voice.

"Oh, well too bad." Nick said. "If you see him, could you tell him I came looking for him?"

Koneko nodded. "What's your name?" she asked, trying to get some info out of him. But to no avail.

"Just a friend." he said, a smile in his face. Koneko watched him intently.

"That's not an answer." the girl said, earning a chuckle from the boy.

"And yet, that's what you got." Nick replied. He turned, walking away while waving a hand. Once he crossed the street and dissapeared from her sight, Nick was a bit upset with Issei. _"So, you're too busy with your 'club activities' to listen what I got, huh?. It's the same thing with Velkan now that I think about it. I'm starting to see a pattern here..."_ he thought. As he walked on the street thinking what his next step would be, the boy didn't realize someone was following him, trying to discover his true nature.

 **-Nighttime, City Streets-**

After following him for a while now, Koneko got the feeling that her suspicions was leading her to a dead end. The girl peeked from behind a large tree and gave a last look to Nick, just in case.

 _"Guess I was wrong."_ she thought. Then Nick seemed to walk towards something that lay in the middle of the street. Something that looked like hit by a car. It was a mixed race dog with dark brown fur. "Sometimes, life isn't fair." Koneko whispered to herself. A single memory flashed through her mind. One that involved a younger and scared Koneko, a small village... and a rain of fire destroying all around her.

Koneko shook her head, trying to put those thoughts at bay. By the time she looked again, the boy was crouched in front of the lifeless dog. "Well, I doubt they'll get angry with me for doing this once more." she heard Nick talking to himself after a while. The boy put a hand over the corpse and the other on the black gem of his necklace, and began to mutter words which, even though Koneko listened, was not English nor any demonic language she knew about. Just then, a strange darkness went from the jewel and through his body, to the hand touching the dog. Koneko got herself ready for combat, just in case he went out of control. The dark energy got inside the dead dog, and five minutes later Nick stood up.

"I'd better get going. Good luck dog, I remmember this being a cruel world." he said. After that Nick walked away, leaving behind the dog and a Koneko with more suspicion than before.

"What just happened?" the nekomata asked herself after making sure he was really gone. She went to the dog, which did'nt seemed to change at all. _"I know what I saw."_ she thought. After waiting for another five minutes for something to happen, the girl decided that Nick, if that was his real name, could be a potential threat to the devils controling the rea... And most important, a potential threat to those she considered family; The Gremory. _"Rias must know about this."_

Suddenly, her senses detected a fast movement by her side. By instinct, the girl went to battle mode, putting her arms in front of her in a defensive position. However, she relaxed a bit after seeing her supposed attacker, who was none other that the dog that until a few seconds lied dead on the street. "What? Weren't you dead?" Koneko asked as she saw the dog running away into a near alley. Now she definitely had to tell Rias everything related to that boy.

 **-Meanwhile, Somewhere in the city-**

In a hotel near outside the city, a girl sat at the edge of the rooftop held her gaze upon the city, lost in thought. She had been forced to made a decision. To choose between power to herself and to be recognized among her fellow fallen; or a friend that had been there for her from the beginning. With a long sigh, she was about to get inside the hotel when a voice from behind stopped her.

"I trust you made your choice by now," Malachi began. Next to him was Kalawarner, her arms crossed under her cleavage and a stern look on her face. "... and I really hope it's the same we both made."

"Honestly, to let Donasheek mess with your head like that." Kalawarner said coldly, making Malachi flinch.

"Kal! I thought we agreed to deal with this situation delicately!" Malachi exclamed.

"We don't have time for this nonsense!" the woman replied, looking right at him. "Raynare will need our support during the ritual, and we're in charge of keeping any threats to the cermony or to any of us four at bay."

"And that includes the devils that controls this area; the Gremory." Mittelt said, surprising the other fallen. "I know what needs to be done, and you guys know I would do anything for you. But... I don't know, the idea of having a power like that... all to ourselves."

A silence filled the air, in which each of the fallen imagine themselves with a Sacred Gear, as well as trying to keep focus on reality and the present.

"I know it's tempting." Kal said after a while. "Trust me, if I could put my hands on a Sacred Gear... the things I would do..." a mischievous grin crossed her face. Every time she did that, Malachi, Mittelt, and Raynare if she'd been there, were a bit terrified of her. But a seconds later, that twisted smirk turned into a more friendly smile. "But I would rather let the last of those damn things burn down to ashes before let any of you come to any harm."

"We need to stay together, like we always been." Malachi reassured the girl. "And then, once we've handle the Sacred Gear to Lord Azazel... who knows? Maybe he'll give us some vacations after all this!" the boy said. Kalawarner facepalmed, earning a chuckle from Mittelt.

"You're right. Let's get this thing done!" she exclamed. With that, the group went back inside the hotel and asked for a nice dinner, hoping to get some rest afterwards in preparation for the next hours, which were crucial to the plan's success.

* * *

 **Author Note: The plan is to get one story updated every day from Thursday to Sunday, starting the next week while I get used to my new weekly schedule beetween school, work, homework time and sleep.**

 **I hope this works, so wish me luck! TJ out.**


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